Elflings At Large
by ThurinRanger
Summary: Laurel's life was normal, until she received six plush elves in the mail! Find out how she and her best friend survive this massive change as they are suddenly charged with taking care of six elflings, not all of them easy kids, and their lives are changed forever, for the better of for the worse. A belated B-day present for my friend NirCele! DISCL:I OWN NOTHING YOU RECOGNIZE
1. 1--Elflings Arrive

**DISCLAIMER: I NEVER PRETENDED TO OWN ANY OF THIS, OK? UNDERSTOOD? :))**

 **This story is (hopefully) part of the Silmarillion plush toy collab, after reading several of the stories that are part of that collaboration, I couldn't help but be inspired. To all those loyal and loving followers, readers, and reviewers of my current story, A Ranger of the Woods, believe me, I am sorry. :') I think that story might have to go on a very short hiatus for a little while, just so I can squeeze this other stuff that's been living in my head for months escape. I promise I am not abandoning my other stories, just postponing A Ranger of the Woods for a little while(maybe, there might still be regular updates(but were there ever regular updates?)), :)) thank y'all for bearing with me here.**

Laurel sat squeezed in between several strangers, jostling around in the uncomfortable, crowded bus on the way home from work. Despite all this, and the fact that it was raining dismally outside, she was smiling. Today had been her birthday, one of the several she had celebrated while at her place of work, _Mario's_ , an incredibly cliche Italian pizza place. It was a part-time job, the job she had had while going to college in that little town in Vermont. Now that she had graduated, she also worked part-time at the locally owned frozen yogurt place in her area, called FroyoHeaven, two low-key jobs until something better came along, just to keep herself afloat in her tiny house with her small needs. The staff at _Mario's_ all knew it was her birthday, and had thrown a tiny celebration, congratulating her, patting her on the back, giving her cards and occasionally a small present. They had all split a small tart the owner, Mario himself, had given them for the occasion, a tradition he had maintained for years with all his employees' birthdays.

Laurel sighed happily, reading over the cards again. One was a rectangular card, colored in pastel shades, with a bright and glittery cake in the center. Another was smaller and more personal, not store-bought, a folded piece of red paper with little stickers stuck on and small designs drawn on with a sharpie. As if that weren't enough, her friend, Maura, had not only given her a very humorous card that continued to make her giggle the third time she read it, but also had tucked within it a small gift card to Macy's. They all wished her a happy birthday, and she had not been very surprised to receive them, as she was friends with all the small waiting staff at _Mario's_ , Johnny, Lucy, and Maura. But the one she kept on mulling over, the odd gift, was a crisp pale yellow envelope with her name written in elegant script across the front with a blue ink pen. Enclosed within was a friendly wish of a nice day and a happy birthday, along with a gift card.

"Middle Earth Plushie Industries Inc." Laurel read the name again to herself, wondering how the quiet and rather odd cook who worked in the back tossing pizza dough to whom she barely ever held conversation, in fact she didn't even know his name, would know about her obsession for all things Middle Earth.

 _He probably just overheard me geeking Maura to death over it._ she told herself firmly, as she had an over-active imagination which tended to quickly and easily imagine horror stories and conspiracy theories, before running her finger over the code.

0L0R1N

That was what you entered during checkout to receive three plushies for free.

The idea of having three Tolkien plushies sitting on her couch or shelf, staring down at her all day, was oddly appealing to Laurel, who slipped the meager stack of cards back into her admittedly rather ugly purse, before proceeding to open her writer's notebook to further develop the plot of a thrilling story about her favorite elf, Glorfindel, as he crossed the Helcaraxe in an epic fight for survival.

::::::::

"Let's see..." she muttered to herself, opening her outdated laptop and typing in the URL mentioned on the gift card. She was immediately transported to a site that looked something like Amazon, but instead of everything imaginable sold a plushie of every Tolkien character imaginable.

"Wow...I didn't even know some of these guys existed..." Laurel continued to mutter, high-speed scrolling through hundreds of characters, all represented loveably in plush.

On normal days she might have been suspicious, as she was a rather suspicious person, but today Laurel was too high in the clouds from her birthday and too excited over this previously undiscovered website to care.

She soon located Glorfindel, who she promptly added to her cart.

"Hmm...I wonder what that Quenya means underneath his price..." Laurel could only read and speak broken and sloppy Sindarin, not Quenya, and was too tired to heft out the old and priceless Tolkien volumes to try to make sense of the script.

"It probably isn't that important anyway." she reasoned with herself, adding Maedhros to her cart, noticing the same Quenya note on him too.

"Let's see, I get one more...Fingon. So that Maedhros won't get lonely." she decided, adding him to her cart as well, typing in the code, 0L0R1N, and checking out.

"This has got to be the best birthday ever." she muttered joyously(she was just one of those people who tends to talk to herself), shuffling into the kitchen to go scrape up something for dinner, wondering how long until they would arrive.

::::::::::::::

"Wow! I didn't even pay for fast shipping!" Laurel exclaimed, impressed, hurrying out onto to cold stone walk the next morning in nothing but croc ballet flats and a purple bath robe, picking up the moderately large cardboard box from Middle Earth Plushie Industries Inc., hurriedly carrying it into the house and opening it with the pocket knife she always kept hidden on her person(even when in nothing but a bath robe).

There was an adorable childish plush face, framed by adorable russet hair, smiling adorably up at her.

Laurel smiled adoringly as she pulled the chibi Maedhros stuffy out from the box, cuddling him before lying him on the counter, and taking out the next one.

"Makalaure? There must have been a mistake..." she muttered as she realized she now held in her hands a stunning stuffy of none other but Maglor, unmistakable for his dark hair, sensitive expression, and small music notes embroidered onto his tunic with black thread.

She laid him off to the side, realized she had lain him on top of Maedhros, giggled foolishly, and laid him to the side of his plushie brother.

Next came Fingon, that was expected.

But then, the golden hair and crooked smile just as she'ed imagined it...

"Celegorm?! What? Oh well, don't know how that happened..." she muttered confusedly, putting him aside before pulling out the last two stuffies in the box, Glorfindel(who she felt the need to nuzzle before she put him down), and Nellas.

Why Maglor, Celegorm, and Nellas were included in her order, Laurel had no idea, but she wouldn't argue. Six Silmarillion plushies were certainly better than three!

She was about to throw the box in the recycling, when she noticed several folded pieces of paper in the bottom of it.

She pulled them out, unfolding and perusing them. One side was in Quenya, the other in Sindarin. Laurel chose the Sindarin side, and read: 'Thank you for your order from Middle Earth Plushie Industries Inc.! We are glad you took advantage of our limited offer of buy one, get one of our random selection free! We hope you enjoy living with your new friends, and that you will help them find a comfortable place in your home and society. We trust that you will not abuse your responsibilities as their parent/guardian, and will keep them fed, clothed, clean, and happy. Remember, happy elflings, happy you!'

Laurel felt so stupid. She wanted to slam her head down on her cheap, junky kitchen counter so hard. Had she not read several stories on fanfiction about this? Had she not been fully aware of the plotline of said stories, which before she had thought merely fanfiction? The stories where the girl receives the Silmarillion plushies in the mail and then they come alive?

And then they COME ALIVE?

Laurel was lucky she was good at breathing deeply, or else she might have had a complete meltdown then and there. Luckily she only had a partial meltdown, which ended with a cup of tea too strong for her own good, more deep breaths, and several minutes of agitated pacing.

Then she took action, arranging the six stuffies neatly on the sloping couch so that they would be comfortable when they awoke, before scurrying around her one story house frantically, raiding every closet and every room.

She ended up with three pairs of sheets, her extra and sickeningly floral comforter, the two guest pillows, the three pillows from the couch, and two quilts. She made the guest bed, she figured two could sleep there. Then she moved the stuffies to the carpet and made the couch up, before sitting them back on it.

"Three down, two to go." She muttered, figuring Nellas would prefer to sleep in a tree outside, and that if her thoughts were otherwise, then she could share Laurel's bed with her.

Finally she made the last two beds, one on the floor of the living room, and the other on the floor of the guest room, using extra towels as mattresses, and covering them with quilts and sheets. She was trying her best not to panic, but as her small house only had five rooms(her room, the living room, the guest room, the kitchen/dining room, and the bathroom)each one very small and sensible, and she had little money and food, these guests being very unexpected, we cannot blame her too much for panicking just a little.

After finishing making all the beds she flew back to the kitchen/dining room, and proceeded to heat up the stove, shoving in a pack of mozzarella sticks, before putting some water on to boil in order to cook the solitary package of whole-wheat pasta she had found languishing in the pantry. She also managed to find a bag of chips and some dip, leftover from when some friends came over three days ago.

As the food cooked, Laurel hurried to set the table for seven, which required every single dish she owned.

She was just placing the chips and dip on the table, when a voice behind her made her nearly jump out of her skin as it politely asked:

"Pardon me, but where is your bathroom?"

She whirled around to see a small, lithe and pale-skinned elfling standing before her, an uncomfortable look on his fair face, legs clamped together, looking as if he were about to wet his pants. The gold threads in his small black braids immediately identified him to her as Fingon, and he looked to be about seven in human years.

She was at a loss for words for a few moments, before the little boy began making insisting noises, gazing at her desperately.

"Right! Sorry, this way." she explained, hurrying out of the kitchen/dining room, him following close behind.

"This is the bathroom." she about to leave him to it when she remembered he would probably not know how to use a modern toilet and sink. "You go in there, then push this when you're done. Then you wash your hands with soap like this." she explained, quickly demonstrating how to turn on the sink and pump soap from the dispenser, before walking out to give him some privacy.

As he was using the bathroom, Laurel hurried back into the kitchen/dining room where she quickly reread the Sindarin instructions, confused, as she had been expecting adult elves. But no, it said 'elflings' on the instructions. To be exact, it said, 'Remember, happy elflings, happy you!'

Laurel felt a deep sense of dread settle in her stomach. Six children were an entirely different matter than six adults. You could get the adults jobs, they would be self-sufficient. But children...

Laurel felt another panic attack coming on at the thought of supporting six growing children with her meager salary that kept one person living modestly, the instructions had said that she was to be their parent/guardian after all, but managed to hide her anxiety as she heard Fingon coming back.

"Hello, I am Laurel." she introduced herself, smiling at the little boy as he looked around him, mystified.

"I am Findekano. Where am I?" he asked, but before she could answer he set out on a new stream of questions. "What language is the name Laurel in? What does it mean? Why is your hair so short? Why are you wearing a bathrobe? What are you cooking?"

He would have gone on even longer, had not Laurel cut him off.

"Laurel is a type of tree with leaves people of my world use in cooking. My hair is cut this way because I like it this way. I am wearing a bathrobe because it is early in the morning, I'm off from work, and I just showered. I am cooking pasta and mozzerella sticks, cheese with bread cooked around them, I guess."

"Oh." Fingon murmured as if Laurel had just given him the answers to the worlds biggest mysteries and problems.

"I am, apparently, your protecter and host for awhile, I don't know how long. I am supposed to take care of you."

"Why? Where am I?" he asked insistently, showing far less panic then Laurel would have thought given his new circumstances.

"I don't honestly know why. You see, you and six other elves arrived at my door in a box this morning as stuffed toys. You just came alive, and I think they all will follow your example soon. In the box it said that I was to be a sort of parent or guardian to all of you while you stayed with me. You are in a different world and time, Findekano, this world is not like where you are from."

He nodded calmly, before suddenly running over to Laurel and grabbing her around the waist, hugging her fiercely, burying his face in the fabric of her bath-robe.

"Oh!" Laurel cried, surprised, before she cautiously put a hand on Fingon's messy dark hair comfortingly. "It's all right." she said quietly, squeezing him slightly in an attempt to make the elfling feel more safe.

After a few moments Fingon broke away, gazing up at her with a now tear-streaked face.

"Will you take care of me?" he asked, hands still clutching her bathrobe tightly.

"Mhm, I promise, don't worry. But right now you need some food. Sit down at the table, and I will bring the pasta and mozzarella sticks, we don't want them to overcook." she decided, gently removing her bathrobe from the small but insistent hands and motioning for him to take a seat before hurrying over to the kitchen half of the kitchen/dining room, pulling the mozzarella sticks out of the oven, and turning the stove off and draining the noodles. Within five minutes she was bringing the makeshift meal to the table.

Fingon gazed at the mozzarella sticks suspiciously for a few moments while Laurel waited expectantly for him to dish up.

"What's the matter?" she finally asked, confused by Fingon's furtively suspicious way of glaring at the breaded cheese-sticks before him.

"What are they? Why don't you have regular food?"

"I told you, I live in a different world then you came from. Try them, I promise everything I made is good." she offered, demonstrating by placing a small mound of pasta on her plate, a mozzarella stick, a handful of chips, and a spoonful of dip.

Fingon followed suit before looking at her expectantly.

She smiled, twirling a bite of pasta on her fork and eating it. After he had tried that, she took a bite of the mozzarella stick. Fingon picked up his cautiously, taking a nibble off the edge, and proceeding to make the funniest face Laurel had ever seen.

"Well?" she asked, barely succeeding in stifling mutinous laughter.

Fingon took another bite, this time getting cheese instead of just the breaded outer layer. The mozzarella stretched out into a long drooping string as he pulled the stick from his mouth, dripping down onto his tunic, although he didn't seem to notice or care.

"It is...strange. But good."

She nodded before dipping a chip in the guacamole she had spooned onto her plate, putting it into her mouth and nodding for him to do the same.

"Well, what do you think of my food?" she asked after he had tried everything, brushing a strand of hair nervously out of her face.

"It is strange, as I said before."

"But will you eat it?"

"Yes, I think I rather like some of it. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Fingon continued eating, still rather cautiously at first, but before Laurel new it he was asking for more.

A few minutes later, however, their meal was interrupted by muffled panicked sounds coming from the living room.

"That would be one of the others." Laurel explained, rising quickly and hurrying out of the room, Fingon following close behind.

 **That's it for now, folks, but more will be coming soon!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!  
Thanks for reading, have a great day!**

 **~Thurin**


	2. 2--Elflings Awake

**DISCLAIMER:I DON'T OWN IT. PERIOD.**

 **Hey guys! I'm back already!**

 **Thank you so much to my super-duper-awesome reviewers! Wow, four already? O.O I think I have a new record...four in one day...*dies***

 **And now to respond:**

 **Peregrin Took the Falcon: I just love to write Elfling!Fingon, and I'm so glad you enjoyed him too! Thank you so much for your awesome and very supportive review, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

 **CrackinAndProudOfIt: Yeah, I'm really busy right now so it took me a little while, but here it is! :D I'm glad you liked the idea of having them be children, I feel like that's a way for me to put my own unique spin on this, I don't know. Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy!**

 **kuro-tsuki-san: Thank you! I hope you find that this story lives up to your expectations, I shall surely try my best, :DDD**

 **Sara Pettersson: Yes, I love reading these plushie stories(hence I am now writing one)Poor Laurel, I'm making her go through quite a bit... Oh well, she'll survive(we hope) Thanks so much!**

 **And now, on to the chapter:**

There on Laurel's dilapidated old couch, amongst several elven stuffies sat Nellas, about ten years old in human years, Laurel figured, hugging her knees, her face hidden, looking as if she was having a very quiet and claustrophobic panic-attack.

"Who's that?" Fingon asked with curiosity, taking a few cautious steps closer to the whimpering girl.

Laurel beat him to it, approaching her carefully and lightly touching her shoulder.

Immediately Nellas froze, tense and silent.

"Nellas?" Laurel asked softly, tapping the elfling lightly on the shoulder.

Slowly the girl lifted her head, big brown eyes staring at Laurel from under disheveled dark brown hair, with the look about her of a baby wild animal, alone, scared, and cornered by a person she's not sure wants to eat her or not.

"Nellas, I am Laurel. This is Findekano, he is a little younger than you are. You are in my house, don't be afraid, we won't hurt you. In fact, I have been assigned the task of being your protector while you are in my land." Laurel explained quietly, trying not to make any sudden movements as she tried to reassure Nellas, feeling Fingon creeping up curiously behind her.

"Hello." he whispered, cocking his head at the wood-elf, bewildered. "Who are you? You are not of my people, surely."

"I am an elf of the woods." she murmured quietly, so quietly it was almost hard to catch.

"Really? I am from aman, I suppose you have never been there. What is it like to live in Middle Earth?" Fingon asked curiously, not put off at all by Nellas' shyness.

"It is...woody." she murmured, looking very uncomfortable at the interrogation.

"Interesting. Living in aman is rather woody sometimes too, I suppose, but I would say it is more...bright, cheerful maybe." Fingon replied sunnily, taking little heed to Nellas' demeanor, which positively screamed to be left alone.

"Nellas," Laurel interrupted, gently pushing Fingon aside, "would you like some food? I have just made the morning meal, and young Findekano and I were in the middle of it when you arrived. Would you care for any?" It should be noted that Laurel did not usually have pasta, mozzarella sticks and chips and dip for breakfast, usually she would have dipped some dates in almond butter, had some toast, or maybe an apple. The odd breakfast fare was all she could make in a rush for her unexpected guests' arrival.

Nellas nodded carefully, and made as if to rise when she suddenly squeaked in surprise, jumping to the side as one of the stuffies lying next to her started to grow at an alarming rate, and before any of them could make sense of the situation, there lay a rather confused little elfling, rubbing his eyes and looking around him.

"Where am I?" he murmured, but was interrupted by a squeal of delight from Fingon.

"MAITIMO!" Fingon shrieked, nearly bowling his older cousin over as he slammed him with what Laurel would come to call, "the Finde-slammer", the style of hug she had experienced just twenty minutes earlier.

"Findekano!" Maedhros exclaimed the moment he got his breath back(Finde-slammers tended to knock the wind out of you for a moment), returning the hug. From the looks of him, Maedhros was about eight or nine in human years, though already taller than average for his age.

"Maitimo, would you like to join Findekano, Nellas, and I for the morning meal?" Laurel offered, smiling at Maedhros invitingly.

"Who are you?" he asked with interest, rising from the couch, seemingly noticing both Laurel and Nellas, who was still curled up frightened on the other side of the couch, for the first time.

"I am Laurel. This is Nellas, she is a Sindarin elf, from Middle Earth. Come on, follow me, the food in this world is different than the food you're used to."

:::::::::

"Can we go outside? Please?" Maedhros begged her for the third time in the last five minutes, drawing listlessly with the colored pencils before him.

"I already told you, Maitimo, we can't go outside until I have bought you all new clothes, and I can't do that until all of you are awake, I need to see your sizes before I go." Laurel honestly didn't know what she was going to do, she couldn't take the medievally dressed children with her to the mall, but she couldn't exactly leave them home alone either in her modern home full of dangers unbeknownst to them.

"What are you drawing, Finde?" Maedhros asked his friend, realizing that the argument was useless.

Laurel peered over the small dark-haired elf's shoulder at the drawing, and was surprised that it was quite good.

"This is Amme, Atto, Turko, and little Irisse, she's still a baby." he explained, pointing to each figure in turn."

Laurel was taken off guard to hear Nellas giggling from where she sat perched furtively on the window-seat above where the boys were drawing on the ground.

"What's so funny?" Fingon demanded, turning around and raising his eyebrows at her.

She extended one long skinny arm, pointing to 'Turu', Turgon, Fingon's little brother, who's face suggested that he'd just consumed something extremely unpleasant.

"Does he really look like that?" she giggled, his furrowed eyebrows and scowl standing out against the soft smiles of his mother and sister, and toothy grin of his father.

"Sometimes," Fingon told her very seriously, nodding gravely, "but we still love him, even though he can be a little grumpy."

Nellas just giggled, before going back to gazing out the window quietly, smiling secretly to herself in that way she had.

"I," proclaimed Maedhros after a few more moments of what Laurel's mother liked to call 'the working silence', "am drawing these fine fellows." he gestured to the three stuffed elves lying on the kitchen floor around them.

"My dear Nelyo, I think that we are related to all of them." Fingon giggled, not bothering to look up from his drawing.

"That, my dear Finde, I think is true."

"Really?" Nellas interrupted in her quiet voice from above, eyes growing wide, "Are you really related to that many people?"

Maedhros laughed.

"Many, many more, Nellas, like you would never believe."

Nellas took a few moments to process this shocking information, before asking:

"How exactly are you related to each of them?"

"Well, this is Kano, he is my brother. And Turko, he is my brother also. And this last one is Laure, I don't actually know him that well, but we are related."

"How so?" Nellas nearly whispered with interest, craning her neck for a better view of the three stuffies.

"Well, he is my half-cousin, like Finde is. Actually, Finde knows him better than I do, he is friends with Turu, isn't he?"

"Yes, he likes Turu, they get along."

"But you still have not told me how you are related to him!" Nellas interrupted in frustration, kicking Maedhros softly in the shoulder with her dangling foot to get him back on track.

"Right. Anyway, my grandfather remarried after my grandmother, um...died...to a Vanya named Indis. I think she is nice, but Atto does not like her one bit, which I think is rather strange. Anyway, she had four children with him. Her second daughter was named Irime, and she grew up and got married to one of Fingolfin's people, not a very nobly born man, but he is very nice, and has had two children so far, Laure and his elder sister, Irima. So that makes him my half-cousin."

"That is not very creative naming. Irime and Irima her daughter? That would be confusing." Nellas muttered as she began to work braids into her hair.

"Not actually, because everyone calls Irime Lalwen, so there is no confusion." Fingon explained as he added shading to his families' faces.

"I see. So, Nelyo, does that make you related to everyone here except for me and Laurel?"

"Yes, I suppose it does." Maedhros agreed, pursing his lips thoughtfully, as if he had never had the thought before.

"Woah!" Laurel gasped, jumping slightly as the Celegorm plushy turned without warning into a confused and grumpy looking little boy, looking to be about four in human years.

"Where on aman am I? And who in aman are you?" Celegorm asked in surprise as he gathered his wits about him, glaring at Laurel in confusion.

"Turko, you woke up!" Maedhros exclaimed before Laurel could answer, hugging his protesting little brother fiercely before proceeding to answer all of his questions.

"We are in a different world, she is Laurel, and our protecter while we are in this world. That is Nellas, she is from Middle Earth." Maedhros finished, gesturing to Nellas who had all but disappeared in the faded window curtain she had been sitting in front of.

"Hello Turko, you are in my house, and I am supposed to take care of you and the five others you see here, who either formerly were or still are plushies, while you are in my world. Your brother can fill you in on more if you need it later." Laurel explained once she could get a word in edgewise, smiling brightly at him.

"Alright." Celegorm grumbled, getting up and walking over to where Nellas was hiding quite expertly.

"What are you doing?" Laurel asked in surprise as Celegorm proceeded to poke Nellas, exciting a squeak of surprise from the girl who quickly wrapped the curtains around herself protectively.

"Turko! That was not nice, apologize!" Maedhros gasped in shock at his little brother, raising his eyebrows threateningly.

"I was making sure she was really there." he grumbled in answer to Laurel's questioning, before mumbling a barely audible apology at Nellas, and glaring at Maedhros.

Once Laurel had made certain that Nellas was alright, she motioned for the children to rise.

"Are you quite finished drawing?" they nodded in assent, "Fabulous. Then I shall take some measurements, to try and see what size clothes I should get you. As soon as Laurefindil and Makalaure wake up and I am able to measure them, I can buy you guys clothes, and then I can take you out of the house."

This was met with cheers from Maedhros and Fingon. Nellas looked scared, and Celegorm just looked like he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

"To do this most accurately, I will have to measure you in your undergarments, is that all right?"

Maedhros and Fingon didn't mind in the slightest, as long as the windows were closed, Nellas was averting her eyes, and they got to keep their undergarments on. Nellas would only take of her clothes to be measured if the boys were in the other room and she got to take them off herself, and Celegorm didn't want to get measured at all.

"I do not see why I cannot wear my perfectly nice elvish clothing!" he protested, crossing his arms arbitrarily.

"Because we wear different clothes in this world, Turko, and I don't want to look suspicious." Laurel explained for the fourth time through the door to her room as she helped Nellas redress.

Maedhros took a slightly different approach, whispering to Celegorm.

"All the children here wear different clothes. If you don't get measured for and bought new ones, then they will certainly tease you, Turko."

That did it.

A few minutes later, after Nellas had made her escape, Celegorm came in for his measurements, and, more importantly, was successfully measured.

Just as Laurel and Celegorm were exiting her room, Maedhros cried from the kitchen/dining room in which he and the others had been waiting, "Laurel, Laurefindil is awake!"

At this Laurel felt her heart skip a beat. Glorfindel had always been her absolute favorite Tolkien character, and now that she was about to meet him, albeit a significantly younger version of him, she hardly new what to do with herself.

She entered the kitchen/dining room to see Fingon helping Glorfindel up, looking to be about eight in human years, as he rubbed his eyes in confusion.

"Where am-"

"You are in a different world, this is Laurel, or protecter while we are in said world. I am Findekano, by the way, but you already know me." Fingon rapped off before Glorfindel could even begin to ask the questions, rather tired of explaining them to everyone.

"Laurel, are you blushing?" Maedhros asked curiously, cocking his head at her with interest from where he was brushing the dirt and dust from the floor off of Glorfindel's golden hair.

"What? No!" Laurel blustered embarrassedly, "Why ever would I be blushing? Come on, Laurefindil, we have to get you measured for new clothes." she finished as she quickly escorted him into her room.

After he had removed his tunic and leggings, she began to do some basic measurements, all the while answering all his questions and trying to provide explanations.

::::::::

"Maura? Hi, it's me, Laurel." Laurel greeted her friend, as Maura picked up, keeping one eye on the Maglor plushie sitting innocently in front of her.

For lack of anything better to do, the five children and Laurel were all sitting around in a circle around the last remaining plushie, watching it intently, waiting for signs of life.

While doing this, Laurel was at the same time making the phone-call she had been dreading to Maura about the car. You see, Laurel had been faced with a paradox. She needed to go to the mall and thrift store to buy the children clothes, but she couldn't bring them in what they were wearing currently, but at the same time she couldn't just leave them alone in a dangerous modern house.

She had mulled over this paradox the entire time she was measuring the children, and finally came up with a solution.

"Are you all right?" Maura asked worriedly from the other end, "You called in sick at work this morning, I got worried."

"I'm not sick, but I am in the thick of some unexpected, personal...family issues."

"Can I help you out? Do you want to talk?" Maura offered helpfully, though Laurel was having trouble understanding her through the background din of the restaurant Maura was in.

"I was just wondering if you could do me an enormous favor." she asked cautiously while smacking Celegorm's hand and glaring at him forbiddingly as he began to abuse the little Maglor plushie out of boredom.

"Anything, what do you need?"

"When do you leave work?"

"In about an hour, then I was planning to go take a bike-ride or something."

"Ok, would you mind dropping your car off at my place, going for a bike, and then coming to pick it up in an hour or two?"

"Sure, no problem! I could stick my bike on the rack on the back of the car, then drop it off in your driveway, bike for two hours, and come and pick it up."

"Awesome, thanks so much, Maura, you are the best friend ever."

"Hey, no problem, I know you would help me out if I needed it. But if you want to talk about anything, remember I would love to hear it. See you in an hour or so!"

"Talk to you later, bye."

"Bye."

Laurel hung up and put the phone down on the counter.

"We need to have Maglor up and measured in an hour. What do you think we should do while we wait for him?"

"I know!" exclaimed Glorfindel, making Nellas jump and inch to the side nervously. She did not like jumpy people. "You could write down our preferences about clothes, next to the measurements you took on that piece of paper."

"Good idea. Alright, what colors do you guys like?"

::::::

They had fifteen minutes before Maura was due to arrive. Maglor had awoken and had come alive quite suddenly while Laurel was interviewing the other children as to clothes preferences, making Nellas decide it was probably safest just to retreat up onto the counter where she could perch and watch them from above.

Maglor had been measured and his preferences had been documented, and now Laurel was hiding the children.

"Alright," she reviewed, bending over to look them straight in the eyes from where they peeked out from underneath the bed, "there is nobody in this house other than me, is that clear?"

"Yes." came a little chorus of voices in reply.

"You are to hide very quietly underneath this bed until I come up and give you the 'all clear'. If any of you begin to feel squished or find it hard to breath, do not hesitate to come out and sit on the bed. The windows are closed so that is safe, but if you hear us coming up the stairs, it would be best to hide again. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Wonderful."

 **That's it for now, but more is coming soon! (maybe tomorrow?)**

 **For those of you who don't know:**

 **Amme-mother**

 **Atto-father(informal)**

 **Turu/Turukano-Turgon**

 **Irisse-Aredhel**

 **Turko/Tyelkormo-Celegorm**

 **Findekano/Finde-Fingon**

 **Maitimo/Nelyo-Maedhros**

 **Laurefindil/Laure-Glorfindel**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and please review!**

 **Have a great day,**

 **~Thurin**


	3. 3--Elflings Are Clothed

**Hey, I'm back!**

 **I have decided that this story is a Birthday present(a bit belated)for my good friend NirCele, as a thank-you for all or her support of my work, and the wonderful stories of her own writing she has shared with me. And because she loves Glorfy. And Maedhros. And Fingon.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope. I no own.**

Once she had arranged the six little elflings underneath her bed, Laurel closed the door behind her and hurried downstairs.

By the door, sitting conveniently on the kitchen counter so that she wouldn't forget them, were her list of measurements and preferences, a small stack of clothes of hers she didn't ever wear to sell for some more money at the thrift store so that she could better afford the clothes, the Macy's gift card, and the friends and family discount paper Maura had given Laurel for REI, the other place she worked at, in case she ever wanted to buy anything there.

Suddenly a knock came on the door, and Laurel ran to answer it.

"Maura!"

"Laurel!"

They greeted each other, embracing before Maura handed Laurel the keys to her car.

"I'll be back in about two hours, but don't worry about time, I'll probably lose track and be gone a lot longer. Are you sure I can't help you out more?" she asked, obviously dying to know what was going on, but too polite to ask.

"No, but thanks so much, this is a tremendous help. See you in a couple hours!" Laurel called as Maura unhitched her bike from the back, hopped on, and began pedaling away, turning and waving as she went.

"See you!" she called, before disappearing down the sidewalk.

Laurel waited for five minutes before hurrying up to get the children.

When she opened the door, she discovered Nellas sitting red-faced on the top of the bed, apparently she had gotten too claustrophobic under there crammed next to five little boys, Laurel couldn't blame her. The boys were all squirming out from under the coverlet as she arrived, smiling up at her excitedly.

"Is this going to be an adventure?" Fingon asked with unreserved enthusiasm as he turned to help extract Maedhros from the cramped space.

"I suppose it will be." Laurel replied before motioning for them to follow as she hurried towards the front door.

::::::::::::

"Now, you are not to move much from your hiding places or make any noise above whispering and hushed speaking. If someone asks you to let them into the car, act as if you aren't there and wait until they go away. I am so sorry about this, after I buy you some proper clothes, we will all be able to ride the bus." Laurel apologized as she finished tucking Nellas into the little cave-like space below the glove-compartment of the passenger seat, where most people were accustomed to put their feet.

"I will be back as soon as I can, probably in about an hour." Groans issued from every dim crevice available in the dull red minivan, and Laurel sighed again in sympathy.

"I really am sorry, but I'm afraid this is the only way."

"What if I were to start screaming once you left?" Celegorm asked mischievously, poking his small light-blond head up from where he was hiding on the ground behind a seat, looking as if he very well might do it.

"Absolutely not, Tyelko!" Maedhros cried before Laurel could think of what to say, springing up from where he and Fingon were crouching in the trunk, fixing his little brother with a stern glare.

"Worry not," Glorfindel added, bright yellow-blonde-haired head peeping out next to Celegorm's white-blonde-haired one, smiling brightly, "if he starts screaming, I shall straddle him and clamp my hands over his mouth."

"And I shall sing loudly so that no one can hear the struggling!" Maglor's muffled voice offered excitedly from where he was hiding under a blanket.

"Maybe it would be best if you didn't, Makalaure, it might attract more suspicion. Tyelkormo, I am trusting you." Laurel growled menacingly at the rebellious child, fixing him with a stern look before bidding them all farewell, and closing and locking the doors behind her.

"Macy's...REI...Target..." she muttered nervously to herself as she hurried through the busy mall parking lot, dodging cars as they flew out of parking spots while readjusting her small lavender purse. They had already stopped off at the thrift store, where she had sold some old clothes of hers that didn't fit, or new things she never wore, before buying two pairs of pants, two shirts, and a pair of pajamas for each child.

First she ran into Macy's, buying six pairs of crocs, in yellow, red, blue, green, purple, and orange, using her little gift-card to pay for as much as possible before sighing long-sufferingly and pulling her debit card out of her pocket.

Then she skidded into REI, grabbing a ten-pack of wool socks to wear in the winter with the crocs, using the friends and family discount Maura had told her about years ago that Laurel had been hoarding since, as Maura worked part-time at REI as well as at _Mario's_.

Finally she sprinted into Target, grabbing three packs of assorted sizes of boy's underwear, and one pack of girl's underwear. She contemplated buying Nellas a pack of training bras as well, but decided against it, as she was spending too much money already, and Nellas didn't really need them yet.

Yet.

Laurel shuddered, imagining all the extra money she would have to find as Nellas started becoming a woman and needing all sorts of female products, as she paid for the underwear and nearly ran out of the store, slowing to a speed-walk at the eye-brow raises the mall-guards gave her.

She smiled triumphantly as she weaved through the parking lot, clutching her purchases to her as she checked her watch.

She had done the mall in twenty minutes, better than she had expected, adding that to the time spent thrift-store hunting made nearly an hour.

She smiled triumphantly as she unlocked the car, sliding into the driver's seat and placing the bags wherever there was room on the floor of the car as the children began to emerge.

"Tyelkormo did not really try to scream." Glorfindel informed Laurel as he pulled the little boy out from where he was tucked proudly, before proceeding to buckle him up in his seat.

"Good. Nellas, are you alright?" Laurel peered down underneath the passenger seat and came up quite alarmed, finding it empty.

"Boys, where is Nellas?"

"Right here!" Maedhros called as he swung his leg up and over the back seat, emerging from the trunk, "She got too cramped in there, so Findekano and I laid her down back here to that she would have more air." he informed her, before turning to help Nellas out with a polite 'my lady'.

"How good of you. But where is Finde now?"

"Here!" came Fingon's muffled voice, as he and Maglor crawled out from under the tangle of blankets they had been hiding in, "We found an extra blanket folded up in the trunk, so I hid under it. We were very stealthy, slithering along the floor of the car, no one could have seen us."

"Marvelous, thank you all for being so well-behaved. I know this has been rather trying, but this is the last time you all will have to suffer in this way. From now on, we are riding the bus! Now, buckle up, and we will be on our way home."

:::::::

Maura's dull red minivan flew into the driveway no more than fifteen minutes later, and Laurel and the children hurried into the house, balancing the great bags full of clothes as best they could.

Now, Laurel had never been a shopper. She had never liked going shopping, in fact, for some reason, it tended to stress her out.

"Are you alright?" Maglor asked worriedly as Laurel collapsed onto the couch, sighing heavily and face-palming impressively.

"I'm fine, I just dislike shopping." Laurel sighed again, managing to smile half-heartedly at Maglor before pushing herself back up and beginning to unpack their purchases.

"Alright you guys, these clothes are...a little different than the ones you're used to. Here," she explained, handing each child a pair of underwear in the size closest to their own, "boys, you go into the guest room and put on your new undergarments, this way is front." she motioned to the front-side of the underwear before handing them each a pair, and pointing in the direction of the guest room. She supposed they wouldn't be embarrassed to undress in the same room, they were all boys, and either brothers or cousins with every other member in the room, so it couldn't be too awkward. Besides, they were all under the age of ten. "And Nellas," she continued, handing her a pair of the girl's underwear, "you go into my room and put this on."

"But..." Nellas protested meekly, blushing slightly.

"What?"

"Am I really to come out with nothing but this tiny undergarment on? I have never exposed myself like that before, especially not in front of boys."

"Oh. Yes, well...um...there are some towels in my closet, I think, you can wrap yourself in that."

"Alright, thank you." Nellas smiled softly before retreating with the underwear, leaving Laurel alone to sort out the clothes.

Moments later the boys bounded back into the room in nothing but their new underwear, prancing around before each other and Laurel with pride.

"Very nice, boys, but Tyelkormo, yours is on backwards."

"Oh, alright."

"No! Do not take it off here! Maitimo, would you take him back into the guest room?"

"Sure."

"Nellas! There you are!" Fingon cried excitedly as Nellas' head came peeping around the corner, blushing frantically.

She blushed an even deeper shade when she saw all the boys waving enthusiastically at her, before finally creeping out a little further, clutching an old purple towel about her as if it were a shield.

"Well, now that we all are here," Laurel said as Maedhros and Celegorm reappeared, underwear now on properly, "I shall show you how to wear these clothes. Nellas, these are for you." she motioned for the little girl to come closer, handing her a tunicy-shirt of a washed-out pink with little white flowers stitched onto it, and a pair of dark green yoga-type legging-pants that went down to the mid-calf.

Nellas accepted them, holding them out at arms length and inspecting them suspiciously, still keeping one hand on her towel.

"I'm afraid you will have to take your towel off, Nellas."

"Fine. But turn around!" she whispered sharply at the boys, who wasted no time in doing so as Laurel helped Nellas to step into the yoga-pants and pull on the tunic, before putting her dark brown hair up in a rather messy ponytail with the black hair-tie on her wrist.

"There, now you look just like a normal girl. Tyelkormo, you're next."

Celegorm groaned before clomping over, putting his hands on his hips and sticking his little tummy out obstinately as Laurel brought forth a rugged pair of jeans and a cotton pea-green long-sleeved shirt.

"I do not want them."

"Alright then, Turko, I suppose I will have to stuff you under the seat every time we go somewhere, so that nobody will see you. And I suppose you will never get to go outside, or see the animals-"

"Animals?" he asked with interest, removing his hands from his hips.

"Yes, we have lots of animals here. There are lots of squirrels and rabbits and deers and dogs-"

"Dogs?"

"Lots of dogs. You can't go a day without seeing at least one dog. But, I suppose you will never see them here, because you will never get to go places-"

"Alright, fine. Put them on me."

Laurel smiled triumphantly to herself before proceeding to dress Celegorm.

::::::

After everyone was dressed and the Middle-Earth clothes were hidden deep within Laurel's closet, she sat all the children down on the guest-room bed in front of her laptop, where Netflix was playing a children's show called 'Arthur'.

The children all watched, fixated, while Laurel worked on starting up dinner in the kitchen/dining room.

Some time later a knock sounded on the door and Laurel hurried to open it.

"Hi!" exclaimed a very sweaty and very happy-looking Maura as she finished the last gulp from her water-bottle.

"How was your bike?"

"It was great!" Maura paused for a second, a thoughtful look on her flushed face, "Laurel, you have the TV on or something?"

"Oh! Um...yeah, I was in the middle of watching a...a cooking show on my computer in the other room, for dinner, you know."

"Oh, ok."

Laurel was painfully aware of the very un-cooking-show-like sounds coming from the guest room, but chose to ignore them, and hoped Maura would too.

"Is there anything I can do to help? With your situation? I won't ask any questions if you want to keep whatever's going on private, but if you ever need anything, just ask, and if you ever want to talk about it, you have my number." she offered, smiling.

"Thanks, Maura, you're such a great friend."

"Hey, no problem, I know you'd do the same for me."

"Let me get you a glass of water before you go, maybe something to eat? You went on quite a long bike, I have some power bars in the cabinet."

"I love going on bikerides, they are so rejuvenating. No thanks, I'll just take some water."

"Alright, here you go." Laurel said, smiling as she handed Maura a glass of water.

"Thanks. What was that?" Maura asked in alarm as the two girls caught the muffled sound of a toilet being flushed in another room.

Laurel internally face-palmed. Why had she not remembered to tell the children Maura would be stopping by soon? Sometimes she felt so stupid...

"Um, that's just my...boyfriend. One second," Laurel explained frantically, hurrying out of the room, leaving a very confused Maura behind her.

"Children!" she hissed as she skidded into the guest room, nearly slipping in her slippery grey running socks, whereupon six innocent and surprised faces glanced up at her.

"What is it, mom?" Maglor asked inquisitively, as Maedhros paused the video.

 **Yup. So tragic.**

 **Anyway, thank you all to my super duper duper AWESOME reviewers!**

 **Review replies are as follows-**

 **Peregrin Took the Falcon: I know, Nellas is just the cutest ever! :DDD I'm so glad you continue to enjoy, and that you found it that amusing! :DDDD Thanks so much for your kind and supportive reviews!**

 **Lady Silverfrost: I'm glad you like the twist I put on the idea! When the thought of having them be kids first came into my mind, I just couldn't help myself... Thanks so much for your epic reviews!**

 **NirCele: lol of course you did...and of course the minute I'm done w/ this that's what I'm gonna do too... YOU THINK FINGON IS FLIPPIN' ADORABLE TOO? SO GLAD! WE LUVESES HIM PRECIOUSSS! heehee they're all my fav character's too(except Celegorm, I threw him in there to make things interesting) I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! Thanks so much, your reviews always make me smile so big! :DDD**

 **Thanks again to all my reviewers! I hope all you guys enjoyed reading this chappie as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **Have a great day,**

 **~Thurin**


	4. 4--Elflings Are Revealed

**Hey guys! I'm back! Thanks to all my awesome reviewers:**

 **Peregrin Took the Falcon: Oh, I'm glad my story is enhancing the character of Nellas for you!(I love her so much, she is just so cool, and there's so much possibility there...) I'm glad you continue to enjoy it, and find my characterizations satisfying! :DD**

 **NirCele: Your welcome! :DD She hasn't figured it out...yet... AS DO I! If you ever find a Glorfy plushie, please tell me so that I can obtain one as well! XDXD Yeah maybe I'll have dear little cute Nellas develop a little crush for Maedhros that she shows via affectionate punches, lol. Oh, thank you so much! Your review is so nice! :DDD**

 **AdvisorOfImladris: Thank you! :D I'm glad you find my OC believable, what a relief... I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

Laurel was too surprised to answer for a moment. _Mom? They were calling her mom now?_

"It's alright if we call you that, isn't it?" Glorfindel asked in concern at her long spell of stunned silence, "In the show the odd animal children were calling the lady that took care of them mom, and we thought that we could call you that too, isn't that what you are now? Our mother?"

Laurel was about to explain that a mother was usually the person who gave birth to you, but decided against it, whispering instead: "Yes, I suppose that would be alright. But my friend is here right now, and she can't know you guys are here. Please, try to be quiet." she instructed, turning down the volume of her computer and ruffling Maglor's hair fondly in spite of herself, before turning and hurrying out, closing the door lightly behind her.

"What was that about?" Maura asked curiously as she reappeared, cocking her head in confusion, "I didn't know you even had a boyfriend? And what were you whispering about?"

"I was...um...being cross at him for clogging the toilet again." Laurel mumbled lamely, focusing intently on cubing the small block of cheese on the cutting-board before her.

"Oh, boyfriends can be such a pain." Maura laughed, though she clearly was still confused at Laurel's strange behavior, "I guess I'll just take the car back now, I have to pick up takeout on my way home."

"Oh, right! Sorry, here you go." Laurel said embarrassedly, handing Maura the car keys as she placed the now empty cup in Laurel's open dishwasher.

"You gonna be at work tomorrow?" Maura asked on a second thought as she opened the door to leave.

"I don't know, probably not." Laurel sighed in defeat, scrunching her eyebrows together as the desperateness of her situation began to fully reveal itself before her eyes. She needed to work full-time to get money to keep the children fed and clothed, but she couldn't just leave them alone at home all day, and then the schools and the police would eventually find out they weren't in school...

"Laurel, if you need help-" Maura offered again, a worried look in her large brown eyes.

"I know, I'm fine." Laurel muttered sullenly as she began to chop up an apple angrily.

"What are you making anyway?" her friend asked in curiosity, looking over her shoulder at the random assortment of food she was preparing.

"I don't even know." Laurel whispered, but it came out as a whine.

"Has your boyfriend been mis-treating you?" Maura asked suspiciously, looking as if she was ready to go find this imaginary boyfriend and teach him a lesson.

"No!" Laurel protested quickly, grabbing Maura's arm as she tried to go do just that, pulling her back, "He's great, really great!"

"Fine, but I know something is the matter, Laurel, and I wish you would just tell me what it is."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. Here, let me help you with this directionless dinner, then I'll leave." Maura decided, opening Laurel's small fridge and scanning its contents, "Goodness, you barely have anything left in here! Let's see...ice cream...apples...bread...yogurt...I can't make a good dinner out of this, and I doubt you can either, unless you want to have apple sandwiches. How about you come have takeout with me at my house? You can bring your boyfriend if you want, or leave him to fend for himself."

"That's really nice of you, really, but I'll be just fine."

"Apple sandwiches it is then. Would you put some toast in the toaster while I cut the apples?"

"Alright."

To tell the truth, Laurel didn't mind Maura's help at all. In fact, it felt good just to have a regular old evening with her friend, as if nothing at all had changed.

"Would you cut all the apples in that bag? I want to be able to have these tomorrow too." actually, Laurel wanted to have dinner made for the children too, but Maura didn't need to know that.

"Sure! You'd better put all that bread in the toaster oven to cook, then we can go sit outside and relax a bit."

The two girls worked in silence for some time, popping toast in the toaster, and chopping apples. When everything was taken care of they went out front, pulling the two lawn chairs off the porch and onto Laurel's small grassy yard, leaning back with contentment.

"What a nice day it is." Maura sighed happily and closed her eyes, sweeping a lock of her messy auburn hair behind her ear.

"That it is."

"I wonder what all those characters that live in your imagination are doing today." Maura laughed, as she was used to hearing about the many elves from Tolkien's world that had taken up very permanent residences as muses in Laurel's head.

"I don't know, I guess I just haven't thought about them yet today." Laurel hadn't had time to think about anything other than her new charges, which had been more than enough.

"I'm shocked! You must have been pretty busy today."

"Yeah, I guess I was."

"Momma!" called a youthful and miffed voice from out of Laurel's bedroom window, causing both girls to look up in surprise, "Your friend must be gone by now! If not, tell her to leave, I'm hungry and Nellas is being cross!" Celegorm cried in impatience, small blonde head poking out of the window.

"What?" Maura breathed in confusion, getting up and hurrying over to the window. Laurel hurried after her, and they were greeted with the faces of six very bored looking elflings, who smiled at them with relief.

"Children?! You have six children? What?!" Maura cried in confusion, glancing from Laurel to the children and back again, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

"I am Maitimo, greetings. Sorry mother, I told Turko not to do it, but Laurefindil couldn't subdue him in time." Maedhros explained apologetically, smiling at Maura as he introduced himself.

"Hello, I am Maura, but Laurel?! What?! How do you have six children?" she cried again in disbelief, turning to Laurel with a look that demanded answers.

"Yes, well, um, they aren't actually biologically mine...I'm sort of their adoptive mother."

"Oh. That makes more sense. But why on earth did you adopt six children?"

"Come inside, we have a lot to tell you."

:::::

"How much do you know about Middle Earth?" Laurel asked Maura once they were all seated in various places around the living room, Maura on one end of the couch, Laurel on the other, Celegorm in her lap, Glorfindel on the arm of the couch, Fingon on the coffee table, Maedhros and Maglor on the rug, and Nellas hiding above the couch in the drapes.

"You know I've watched the Peter Jackson movies and endured hours of your banter about the Silmawhatever, but that's about it."

"Alright, brace yourself. These children are all from the Silmarillion."

Maura made a sort of choking sound before composing herself, looking at all the children in a new and slightly traumatized way. It must be appreciated that all Maura could remember from the Silmarillion banter was a lot of blood, betrayal, tragic ends, and fire.

There followed a very long and thorough explanation, with the children popping in to contribute at all the appropriate and inappropriate times, Maura listening silently the entire time, wide-eyed.

"I see," she finally murmured at the end, taking a drink from the glass of water Fingon had politely handed to her, "your behavior, Laurel, all makes sense now. But children, would you remind me of your names again?"

"I am Maitimo."

"Findekano, but you can call me Finde."

"Makalaure."

"Laurefindil."

"Tyelkormo."

"Nellas."

"Wonderful names." Maura remarked, casting Laurel a desperate glance, there would be no way she could remember, much less pronounce all of their very foreign sounding names.

"Children, is there anything simpler you would like to be known by? Like maybe your nicknames?"

"Sure! I am Nelyo."

"Finde."

"Kano."

"Laure."

"Turko."

"Still Nellas."

"That's better, I think I can remember that. Children, your mother and I have been making apple sandwiches in the kitchen, and it is dinnertime, would you like some?"

"Yes!" Fingon cried as he and the others hurried into the kitchen/dining room, where they were served some lovingly homemade apple sandwiches before sitting down to feast on them.

"Laurel," Maura whispered urgently, drawing her friend into the hallway while the children were busy eating, "there is no way you can do this on your own, you must let me help you."

"I know, but I do not want to inconvenience you."

"It would be no inconvenience, honestly, I have nothing else to spice up my life right now, just work and the occasional vacation, I, like you, am at one of the boring transition parts of my life."

"Thank you."

"It will be no problem. Are they here to stay?"

"I don't know, but it would be best to assume for the moment that they are."

"Ok. I think you should quit one or even both of your jobs, you need to homeschool them."

"What?!"

"You can't just put children like that in school, Laurel! Imagine what would happen!"

Maura was right. Laurel knew that the minute she enrolled the children in school, Nellas would have a nervous-breakdown, Fingon would get diagnosed with ADHD, and Celegorm would be sent to the principal's office. Even if these things didn't happen, the children would all be confused, singled out, bullied, and probably have a pretty miserable time of it. Besides, Laurel had been homeschooled herself, it wasn't a foreign concept to her, but still...

"I guess you're right, but where am I to start?"

"Google the Vermont homeschooling laws, enroll them legally as homeschoolers, and start teaching them. I think you should quit your frozen yogurt job, and only work part-time, maybe night and evening shifts at _Mario's_. I can work full-time, and take care of them when you're at the restaurant. We can make this work, Laurel, I know we can."

Laurel smiled. Maura had always been such a good organizer, she knew how to get everything under control, and was at the moment just the type of friend Laurel needed.

"Thanks so much, you're a lifesaver!"

"No problem! Let's see if there are any sandwiches left for us, and then put the kids to bed."

"But what about your takeout?"

"Oh, I forgot about it. I'll call them and tell them to deliver some here in an hour or so, and to sell whatever they had ready for me."

"Ok, that's a good idea, because I think those ravenous elflings will finish off every one of those sandwiches, now that I think about it, I think we forgot to have lunch today...I wonder how I managed that..."

Maura laughed at this before putting a companionable arm around Laurel's shoulder. "You, my friend, have a lot to learn about being a mother."

"I suppose I do, but so do you."

"I'll admit that I do have a lot to learn, but still, not as much as you."

"I guess you're right. Come on, let's get them washed up and ready for bed."

::::::::

It turned out that the children did not want to sleep scattered about in separate rooms, and that evening they all found themselves together in the living room.

Laurel and Maura had taken all the beds made up for the children in the other rooms, and turned the living room into slumber-party heaven, where they all were now, curled up underneath an assortment of quilts and towels in the now dark room, lit only by a glowing nightlight.

"Maura," Fingon asked sleepily from where he sat leaning on Maedhros' shoulder, swathed in blankets like a mummy, "why is your skin so dark?"

Maura's skin wasn't actually that dark, she was of mixed latino ancestry, and it was more of a light brown cinnamony color, but it was still completely foreign to little Fingon.

"Finde," Laurel explained from where she lay slouched on one side of the couch, Celegorm dozing off in her lap, "I know that in aman most everyone tends to have peach to very pale skin, but it is not so here, or in Middle Earth either. I do not know about elves, but humans come in a wide range of skin colors, you will soon see that people have all sorts of different colored skin here, and that it is commonplace."

Glorfindel's eyes got very wide at this, and he asked, "Do you mean we will see people walking around with purple skin? Or green? Or bright red?"

"No! Sorry, I should have been more clear. Skin colors here range from whites, creams, and pinks to medium brown, nearly black, and even yellowish."

Glorfindel nodded, satisfied. "I'm glad, it would be so very odd to see purple people walking about..." he murmured disconcertedly into his pillow, Nellas giggling from where she was hiding wrapped in a sheet up on the windowsill, amongst the curtains. Now that Laurel thought about it, Nellas spent most of her time hiding in curtains. Maybe they reminded her of trees, or maybe she just liked to see and not be seen, and found Laurels thick and shadowy curtains the perfect place to do so.

"Momma," Celegorm whispered softly after yawning enormously, gazing up at her with big worried eyes, "do you think Amme is worried about me?"

"I don't know, Turko, but there is nothing we can do about it at the moment, and worrying won't help, it will only make us more upset."

"You are right, but I still miss her. And Atto, and my friends, and grandfather and grandmother. Even though Atto does not like grandmother, I still do." he yawned again, revealing two rows of perfect little white teeth, making Laurel remember that she had no toiletries for the children. She inwardly sighed, before combing through the quickly falling asleep Celegorm's messy hair as Maglor launched into a quiet but persistent little lullaby, a rather bittersweet song which seemed to fit the evening perfectly. Laurel listened as his strong voice gradually grew weaker and weaker, quieter and quieter, listened as he started missing notes, and jumbling words, listened quietly until he dropped off in the middle of a garbled line, more than forty minutes later, and by then all the children were fast asleep, lost in elvish dreams.

"Laurel," Maura whispered hesitantly after several minutes of the calm silence of children sleeping, "you said they were all characters from the Silmarillion. How...how do they all...die... I don't really want to know, but I have to, I can't stand it otherwise, knowing that something terrible happens to these sweet little children, but not being able to remember what."

"Nellas' fate is uncertain," Laurel began quietly, focusing intently on the opposite pale blue wall dancing with shadows from the cars going by through the night outside, stroking Celegorm's soft hair as she did so, "it is likely she was killed by either dwarves or elves, when Doriath, the kingdom who's forest she lived in, fell. She may have escaped, but probably was killed by orcs or bandits or was drowned in the war of wrath, or maybe just faded from memory. Nelyo...he throws himself into a fiery chasm of the earth with his father's Silmaril, and Kano either throws himself into the sea at the same time with the other Silmaril, or throws it into the sea and wanders the desolate beaches forevermore singing songs mourning the loss of the Silmaril until he has faded from memory, Tolkien couldn't decide which, and neither can I. Laure takes on a balrog and they both die when they fall off a precipice, his valiant sacrifice to protect the rest of the refugees from Gondolin is one of my favorites in the entire Silmarillion."

"Isn't he the one who gets pulled off by his hair?" Maura interrupted, a flash of memory from one of Laurel's past rants glinting in her soft brown eyes.

"Yes." Laurel replied, and they both glanced at said balrog-slayer, wrapped up in the floral comforter and sleeping with his mouth hanging open, bright golden hair tied thoughtfully up in a bun by a very paranoid Laurel earlier that day.

"Finde gets surrounded and killed by balrogs, and they break his body and trample it into the ground. And Turko..." Laurel paused, rubbing her knuckle along the little boy's pale cheek, feeling as if her heart would break, "was killed personally by Dior in a violent episode of kinslaying, because Turko was in love with his mother, and even though she would not have him at all, Dior was mad at him because he and his brother impeded her, and his brother even tried to kill her."

"Thank you for telling me." Maura murmured after a long, sad silence, in which the girls took turns gazing at the wall, the floor, and the children, trying not to imagine their violent and sad ends.

They both jumped a moment later as a knock at the door interrupted the tragically peaceful silence, and a muffled voice called through the front door, "Pizza delivery!"

"Oh!" Maura gasped quietly, getting up and hurrying to the door. Laurel heard the muffled noises of thank-you's and crinkly dollar bills changing hands, before Maura was back again with a small box of Mellow Mushroom cheese pizza, which they ate in a contemplative silence, Maura trying not to imagine young Fingon being cruelly slaughtered by balrogs, and Laurel trying not to drip hot greasy cheese on Celegorm's head.

:::::::::::::

 **So what did you guys think?**

 **Next chappie will be up soon, we promises...**

 **Thanks and have a marvelous day,**

 **~Thurin**


	5. 5--Elflings And Love

**Hey guys! I'm back!**

"...and Cinderella and Prince Charming lived happily ever after, The End." Laurel finished with a sigh of relief, reaching hurriedly for the glass of water she had placed on the carpet beside her slippered feet, as the coffee table was already occupied by Maglor and Nellas, who had had so much fun criticizing the story for its ridiculousness that she had decided to come down for once from the drapes.

"That was so sweet..." Glorfindel sighed dreamily from where he was squeezed into the left side of the couch, hair tied up in the now-perpetual bun.

"I suppose it was, but what sort of name is Cinderella?" Maedhros asked from where he was squeezed into the opposite side of the couch, head resting serenely on his excitable half-cousin's shoulder.

"Seriously, Laurel, Cinderella? What're you trying to educate them about anyway?" Maura called incredulously from the kitchen, making herself heard over the sound of herself violently chopping vegetables for dinner.

"I googled 'Vermont homeschooling laws' just like you said, Maura, I lost three hours of sleep registering them all as homeschoolers here, and now I'm homeschooling them according to the requirements!" Laurel retorted, placing a frayed bookmark of braided yarn into the book of fairytales and placing it on the ground beside the water, frowning at the list of required subjects for children under 13 sitting threateningly in her lap beside Celegorm. "Well, I suppose that takes care of Literature." a scoff from Maura, "Now let's see if we can get PE in while Maura finishes dinner. Maura, how much longer do you think that soup will be?" Laurel called to her friend, rising, Celegorm in one arm and cup of water in the other, prepared to attempt PE.

"Long enough for you guys to get some exercise out front if you want to. I don't know if tag qualifies as PE though-"

"Alright, kiddos! Get your shoes and socks on, we're going outside to play!"

"Finally!" Fingon cried, elated, bounding off the couch like a whirlwind, the other children following close behind, crowing similar exulted phrases at their newfound freedom(Laurel had been making on-and-off attempts to homeschool them all day), pushing and shoving through the narrow doorway and into the kitchen/dining room, nearly knocking Maura over as they each tried to get to their shoes and socks first.

"Mama! Finde pushed me!"

"I did not! Turko is fibbing again!"

"Chill out, all of you, and get yourselves outside." Laurel sighed, pushing the last stragglers out the door, managing to cast a long-suffering glance at Maura as she left, who snickered in return.

"What are we going to do?" Maedhros asked as they spilled out onto the lawn(Laurel had checked first to assure that no neighbors were in sight), tumbling and running and jumping with delight.

"Well, do you know how to play zombie-tag?"

Blank stares.

"Um, orc-tag then. One person is 'it', an orc, and they chase everyone else around, and if they tag someone else, that person also turns into an orc and helps them catch people."

"Ew..." Nellas mumbled, wrinkling up her nose in disgust.

"Alright then, how about...sharks and minnows?"

More blank stares.

"I guess it's just gonna be frisbee then." Laurel decided, ignoring the onset of even more blank stares as she picked up the heavy orange plastic frisbee from where it was leaning against the side of her house, catching the children's interest at last.

"What do we do with it?" inquired Glorfindel, cocking his head in a most adorable fashion.

"We throw it to each other. It may be kind of hard for you guys at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it. For now, Nelyo, could you catch it when I throw it to you?"

"Yes."

"Alright...here goes!" Laurel cried, releasing the frisbee with a grunt. She had practiced often with her elder brother who was on an ultimate frisbee team, and it flew smoothly towards Maedhros, who caught it deftly.

"Let me try! Let me try!" Celegorm cried impatiently, grabbing Maedhros' soft red cotton shirt in both hands, jumping up and down with irritation.

"Patience, Turko, patience." Maglor sighed, shaking his head at his little brother as if he was a lost cause.

"You can all have a turn." Laurel explained, taking the frisbee from Maedhros and throwing it to each child, before teaching them how to throw it themselves.

Within twenty minutes they were standing in a wide circle, throwing the frisbee back and forth. Elflings learned quickly, and Laurel was feeling rather proud of them.

Unfortunately their lesson in PE had to end prematurely, as Maedhros mis-judged his aim, and before anyone knew what was happening, the frisbee had gotten poor Nellas squarely on the cheek.

"Nellas! Oh dear!" Laurel cried, hurrying over to the stunned little girl, who was bravely trying to hold back tears, hands over the effected area.

"Nellas! I am so sorry!" Maedhros squeaked in shock, getting to her even before Laurel and waisting no time in prying her hands away from her face, attempting to get a better look at the damage.

"Get off!" she growled, turning away and right into Laurel's concerned grasp, whereupon she squealed surprise before surrendering to Laurel who examined her face anxiously.

"Where did it hit you?" Laurel asked after she was sure that Nellas wasn't in need of a trip to the emergency room, blowing out a sigh of relief through her teeth.

"H-here." Nellas managed shakily, motioning to her right cheekbone, which was getting redder by the minute.

"Thank goodness it wasn't your eye-"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Oh Nellas, will you ever forgive me?" Maedhros cried tragically, interrupting Laurel as he took Nellas' hand imploringly, eyes widening hopefully,

"-come with me inside, we will get you some ice to put on that. Nelyo, do give the poor girl some space-"

"I know it was not your fault, Nelyo, there is nothing to forgive." Nellas whispered, forcing a smile onto her face as Laurel swept her up and hurried her inside to receive First Aid from Maura, who had come to the porch, worried from all the commotion.

"Soup's ready." Maura informed her as she laid Nellas down on the couch, hurrying to prepare an ice-pack to apply to her cheek.

"Will Nellas be alright?" Maedhros asked worriedly in a hushed voice as the boys set the table with bowls, spoons, and cups, laying down napkins beside them.

"Yes, Nelyo, do not worry. She will be fine." Laurel smiled reassuringly as she poured the soup from the pot on the stove into her biggest serving bowl, putting on her cat oven-mitts and carrying it to the table. "Kano, would you get the ladle for me?" she asked the little boy as an afterthought, stepping around Fingon's blue croc lying haphazardly on the floor as she made her way over to the table, setting the serving dish down on with a satisfied grunt, before turning back to fill up her pitcher with ice-water.

"Will Nellas be joining us for dinner?" Glorfindel asked Maura as she padded into the kitchen, getting a dish-towel to wrap the girl's ice-pack in.

"Yes, is it ready now? I will go get her."

Minutes later they were all sitting around the table, Celegorm on Laurel's lap, Maglor on Maura's, Nellas and Fingon on chairs, and Maedhros and Glorfindel on stools for lack of them.

Before serving out the soup, Laurel asked them all to join hands in a circle, and bow their heads for the blessing.

"Dear Lord, we thank you for this food-"

"Who is he? Shouldn't you be thanking Maura for this food?" Celegorm interrupted her, twisting around in her lap to face her as he spoke.

"Oh, um, God is like Eru. We are thanking him for blessing us with this food."

"Oh. Proceed."

"Dear Lord, we thank you for this food that you have blessed us with this evening, and pray that those less fortunate than us, that those who are hungry tonight, can find hope in you-"

"Wait wait wait! What do you mean, those less fortunate who are hungry tonight?" Celegorm interrupted again, confused, eyebrows furrowing as he began to contemplate this.

"Well, um, here there are many people who don't have enough money to buy food and are hungry, there are even people who have to sleep on the streets because they have no house, so we are very lucky."

"Why?!" Celegorm demanded, shocked.

"Well, um, that is-"

"The Valar would never let something like that happen back at home!"

"Turko, it is different here."

"I want to go back home!" he cried indignantly, burying his head in Laurel's sweater with anger, "You are not my real mother! I want to go home, to Amme!"

"Now Turko, you know we cannot, do not talk like that to the woman who has opened her home to us and given us love and comfort!" Maedhros reprimanded, looking suddenly very commanding(it must be understood that he was quite an experienced older brother).

"No! I shan't! I want to go home! It is so dreary here! The air is dirty and people are hungry and have no homes. This place is wrong."

"Stop it. All of you." Nellas' quiet voice silenced everyone, who turned to her where she sat inconspicuously, ice-pack obscuring half of her face from view. "Eat your soup and stop it. You are making mother sad, can you not see? So stop it, and eat in silence. Mother, will you finish the blessing?"

"M-hm." Laurel murmured, before finishing it, "Thanks and Amen. Ok, you can eat now."

At that Maura picked up the ladle and served everyone up without a word.

They ate in silence, the younger ones occasionally casting nervous glances at each other at the uncomfortable emptiness in the room as everyone placidly spooned the soup into their mouths.

When they were done Laurel and Maura began to clear wash up the dishes and the children left to get in their pajamas.

"Darn-it." Laurel muttered as she rinsed out a bowl, suddenly remembering.

"What?" Maura asked, looking up, worried.

"I forgot to get them toiletries, they need to brush their teeth and hair and stuff. Mind watching them for twenty minutes and maybe facilitating the baths while I run out and get some?"

"No problem. You can use my car. In fact, I'd prefer it if you did, it's already dark out and the streets aren't the best places alone after dark."

"I can take care of myself." Laurel muttered as she slung her coat over her shoulders, but she decided to take the car anyway.

() () ()

"-cover my eyes, cover my ears, tell me these words are a lie-ie-ie-ie, can you hear heaven cry, tears of an angel-" excessive amounts of steam accompanied the lyrics for 'Tears of an Angel' as Laurel's morning shower progressed, in all of its musical glory.

"I never knew she could sing." Maglor observed from where he sat shoved between Maedhros and Fingon on the couch, helping them complete one of Laurel's few puzzles, a 1000 piecer, which at this point looked either like a circus scene or a flower garden, they weren't sure which.

"She has a lovely voice, and when she sings a deeper accent from somewhere comes out. It's quite nice to listen too. I wonder why she sings while she washes up, though. We do not sing when she puts us in the bath at night." Glorfindel giggled as he lay on his stomach on the rug, carefully working the brush through Celegorm's protesting hair.

"I wonder why she likes love songs so much...this is the third she's sung this morning from in there." Nellas murmured with interest from where she hid in the drapes above the couch, poking the three boys sitting before her, too intent on their puzzle to notice, with her little feet in rhythm with the song.

"That is because most songs have to do with love, I suppose. Love is a universal theme that everyone can understand and relate to, even if they have not yet found their soulmate, they have experienced love for a parent, a friend, or an animal, certainly." replied Maedhros, who had barely survived his agony when they awoke that morning to discover that Nellas' cheek had turned an unbecoming black and blue.

Laurel had switched songs, and now the tune pouring out from the bathroom was far more upbeat.

"-'cause nobody wants to be the last one there, everyone wants to feel like someone cares, someone to love with my life in their hands, there's gotta be somebody for me like that-"

"You are right, Nelyo. If you really think about it, nearly every song that comes to mind has to do with love. How interesting." replied Fingon, tongue protruding partway out of the corner of his mouth as he turned a troublesome puzzle piece around this way and that, trying to figure out which way it went.

The song had changed again.

"-when you're gone, the pieces of my heart are missing you-ou-"

"I wonder if momma's soulmate is gone and she is missing him." Maglor sighed romantically, resting his head on Maedhros' shoulder as he hummed along with the catchy melody.

"I doubt it." Celegorm snickered, "Who would love _her_ as a soulmate anyway? I would not."

"Turko! That is very rude!" Maedhros cried angrily at his smug little brother who was too busy playing with Glorfindel's long golden hair spilling all over the place to notice.

"I would." Glorfindel muttered, yanking the brush once more through the little boys hair before beginning to braid it in a tight four-strand braid starting nearly at the top of Celegorm's little head.

There was no time for anyone to comment on this remark, however, as Laurel suddenly made her appearance, dressed in a pair of tight light blue jeans with a capri cut and a pink T-shirt from the breast cancer awareness run she did with Maura every year, in memory of Maura's mother, who had died from it only two years before.

Her hair was still wet and wrapped in a towel atop her head, her prized Murano glass pendant gleaming from a silver chain around her neck as she padded into the living room, promptly taking a seat behind Glorfindel and running the brush through his hair a few times before beginning to tie it into a knot atop his head.

That was when Celegorm sprung what he had been waiting to spring all morning on her.

"Mama, how are babies made?"

Laurel froze, fingers still caught in the knot, face changing rapidly from its natural pale color to pink to red, before she lay her face on Glorfindel's shoulder in defeat.

"Well...you see...goodness I was never expecting this one...um..." she stuttered, trying to figure out how much lying and censoring she could get away with.

"Pay no heed to him, mother. Amme told him five years ago, and I am sure he still knows it, as he insists on explaining it in detail to all the naive, unsuspecting little baby animals he thinks could benefit from it. He is only pulling your leg." Maedhros sighed, casting a disapproving glance at his little brother who was rolling back and forth on the floor before them, laughing.

"Your face! It-it is red! Oh, I never thought it possible!" he managed to choke out in between fits of laughter, clutching his sides in agony at the hilarious sight.

Laurel quickly composed herself, before glaring at the little offender.

"Ah, I see. Well, now that's all settled, we'ed better start off with breakfast, I have a busy day planned."

"Ooh, what is it?" Fingon asked excitedly as they all hurried into the kitchen and proceeded to prepare cereal, some choosing plain O's, others corn flakes, and others raisin bran.

"I have decided that every week we shall do a different craft. Last night, you remember, I went out to buy you all toothbrushes and things. Well, I got the craft supplies as well, and after breakfast we can begin."

"What kind of craft is it?" begged Glorfindel, tugging on Laurel's shirt hopefully.

Celegorm had not been able to stop his ferocious giggling this entire time.

"You will just have to wait and find out. Turko, do quiet down, you will certainly choke on your corn flakes if you don't." Laurel warned, patting him rigorously on the back as he did just that, causing the milk to spurt out of his nose, much to the amusement of the other children once they saw that he was alright.

"Now, hurry up and finish breakfast, and then we can start. Oh, and I'm going to have to leave right after lunch to go to work, so Maura's coming over right at lunch to take care of you guys. Any questions?"

 **Yep. A super-duper-mini-not-really-cliffhanger. Better believe it.**

 **Review replies are as follows(thanks so much to all my awesome reviewers!)-**

 **Peregrin Took the Falcon: Yeah, I was wondering that there for awhile too, XDXD I never was that fond of Celegorm myself...until I wrote this fic...now he is creeping up with my favorites as well...XDXD Thanks so much! Hope you enjoyed this chappie!**

 **Neril: I love pizza...yum... Thanks so much for your reviews! I love Glorfy too, and am glad you are enjoying him! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!**

 **Quantumphysica: It kinda broke my heart too...but the Muse insisted...*shrugs*... I'm so glad you think so! I ended up rewriting the entire thing halfway through when I came up with the idea to have them be children(I first wrote it w/ them as adults, but luckily I changed my mind before I published it...) Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Elf from Downunder: *mutters* "'eventual updates'...so they're realizing how slow an updater I am...D:...oh dear..." XDXD just joking...thank you so much for your awesome review! I had a lot of fun exploring little Nellas' personality, especially since she is one of my favorite characters, and am glad you find it believable. I hope you enjoyed this chappie too!**

 **NirCele: *skims over your review* *eyes bug out* so much enthusiasm...XDXD... Hey, as always, there's nothing to forgive, thank you for reviewing my story at all! :D:D:D OHSWEETERUILOOKEDUPGLORFINDELPLUSHIEANDISAWHIM!SOCUTE! Anyway...thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed!**

 ***looks at list of reviewers***

 ***passes out***

 **woah. thank you guys so much...*keels over and dies at the sheer number of reviews*...**

 **Oh yeah, and the songs Laurel sung are(in order):**

 **'** **Tears of an angel', by RyanDan**

 **'** **Gotta Be Somebody', by Nickelback**

 **'** **When You're Gone', by Avril Lavigne**

 **Anyway, please review, and have a great day!**

 **~Thurin**


	6. 6--Elflings And An Unfortunate Selfie

**Hi Again!**

"Now, hurry up and finish breakfast, and then we can start. Oh, and I'm going to have to leave right after lunch to go to work, so Maura's coming over right at lunch to take care of you guys. Any questions?"

"None, but will you read something to us other than princess stories today?" Nellas asked quietly, raising her eyebrows hopefully at Laurel as she rose and put her empty bowl and spoon in the sink.

"We only read one princess story, but yes, it will be something different today."

"What will it be about, then?" asked Celegorm with interest, who enjoyed being read aloud to more than he let on.

"It will be about a little boy and his best friend, a tree."

"Ooh! I think I shall like this one!" Nellas squealed quietly from where she was now standing behind Maedhros, hands resting on the back of his chair as he hurriedly finished breakfast. The odd thing about Nellas was, she was given the same amount of food as everyone else, ate slower than everyone else, but was always done first, although she ate everything she was given. It was a mystery Laurel would never be able to solve, and just had to accept as reality.

"Now, is everyone done? I would like to have time for our craft, reading, and some writing before Maura gets here. I have a feeling she'll spoil you guys rotten and take you to the zoo or something, she crumbles around children, so I want to get as much done as possible."

"What is the zoo?" Fingon asked excitedly as they cleared the dishes, rinsing them before placing them in Laurel's miniature dishwasher, which was running at least twice a day now that it was serving six people.

"The zoo is a place where they keep in cages lots of different kind of animals that don't live here for people to come and look at."

"How cruel!" Maedhros cried in shock, eyes widening at the idea.

"Well, it isn't, actually. There are many people there, called zookeepers, and they spend their time taking care of the animals to keep them happy. Also, they build complex habitats for them to live in, and make them feel at home and content. Interestingly enough, most animals live longer and have a happier life in a zoo than in the wild."

"Still, if I were kept in a cage like that, no matter how much they tried to make it look like a forest, I should certainly die." murmured Nellas as they all settled down in the living room while Laurel searched her old bookshelf for the crafts supplies she had gotten yesterday.

She froze at Nellas' words, a terrifying thought entering her mind. Was she doing that to Nellas here? They hadn't been in any woods since they had arrived. Was she killing Nellas?

"Change of plans, kids. Maura isn't going to take you to the zoo. After lunch today, she is taking you all on a nice, long hike on some of the trails we have around here. Is that ok with you?"

Nellas' face lit up, and the others said that would be quite alright.

"Great. Then let's start our craft project now, so that we'll be ready when she gets here."

"What is the craft?" Glorfindel asked with interest as Laurel produced from a white plastic _Michael's_ bag a spool of clear elasticy thread, a big bag of plastic pony beads in assorted colors, and two smaller bags, one full of plastic flower, butterfly, heart, and star beads, and another full of plastic letter beads.

"Stringing beads to make necklaces. I'm afraid that these cheap plastic beads won't be much after your great jewels from Aman and Doriath, but we're kinda short on money right now." Laurel explained as she cut lengths of the clear stretchy string for them to make necklaces from.

On the contrary, they found the beads very engrossing, as plastic was a new concept to them, and enjoyed the craft very much.

"See, you string the beads you want onto the thread like this, until you have filled it, then you tie it off, and you have a necklace." Laurel explained, but the kids had already gotten to work, and they beaded in concentrated silence together on Laurel's living room rug.

When they were finished, Laurel bade them all get together and hold up their necklaces so that she could snap a picture with her camera, to keep as a record for their arts and crafts requirements when it came time to present to a government official to prove that she was homeschooling them well.

She laughed when she looked at the group selfie, it was rather funny. Celegorm's eyes were shut because of the flash, and Fingon had squished Maedhros in a hug so tight that she did not know how the red-headed elfling had survived with all his ribs intact. Nellas was covering her face with her hands, Glorfindel was smiling brilliantly at the camera with his arm around Laurel's shoulder and his face up against hers, the flash reflecting off his teeth and hair causing a rather blinding effect, and Maglor was trying to look normal in the midst of the scene, which was equally hilarious.

"Alright, now it's reading time." Laurel giggled, pocketing the camera and settling down on the couch amidst the enthusiastic children to begin reading.

"This book is called 'The Giving Tree', by Shel Silverstein."

As she read, she looked at all the children's necklaces to see more properly what they had made. Nellas' was comprised of tastefully arranged green and brown pony beads and the occasional dark purple flower. Fingon's was a whole rainbow of colors, including some hearts, butterflies, and stars thrown in, with his name, 'Findekano'(Laurel had shown them which letters meant their name when they had asked, they had not yet learned our alphabet), placed in the center with the letter beads. Celegorm's was white, orange, green, and blue, with a 'C' placed in between two purple butterflies in the center. Maglor's was completely blue, rotating butterflies, hearts, 'M's, and normal beads. Maedhros' was divided into thirds, one third pink, one third red, and one third orange, with a blue heart in between each section. Glorfindel's rotated two yellow and two light blue, with an 'L' for 'Laurefindil' in the center, flanked on each side by a yellow heart.

Laurel smiled at the many necklaces, unique to each child as she finished the story.

"That was so sweet." Nellas murmured, tears in her eyes.

"Stupid tree, if he was smart he would have realized that the boy was taking advantage of him!" Celegorm exclaimed in frustration, shaking his head at the tree's blind loyalty.

"It was a beautiful story of loyal friendship, Turko." Maedhros explained, ruffling his little brother's hair fondly as Laurel prepared the writing lesson, tearing six pieces of paper from a spiral-bound notebook and gathering six sharpened pencils.

"Alright. So, welcome to writing. You are each going to write a short story about a person, place, animal, or thing you love very much. It can be about a memory, or just a description. You must fill the page, and write neatly. For now you boys may use the the alphabet of Feanor, and Nellas may use the alphabet of Daeron, but you must write in English, the language we are speaking, although how you know it, I don't know. Soon I will begin teaching you the alphabet we use here, but not today. Alright, you may begin." Laurel said, handing them each a paper and pencil, and they all sat around the coffee table and began to write, some thinking about it a bit before beginning, and some diving right in.

While they wrote, Laurel checked her email, just in case there was anything important. The only messages of note were one from Maura and one from her parents.

She opened up the one from Maura first.

 _Hey, I'll be home at lunch. That still works, right? I can take care of them while you go do an afternoon shift, and we'll have dinner ready for you when you get back. :)))_

 _Maura_

Laurel checked to make sure the children were still studiously writing before responding:

 _Yep. See you at lunch. Also, I was wondering if you could take them for a nice, long, exhausting hike this afternoon, I'm worrying about Nellas a little._

 _Thanks so much!_

 _Laurel_

Then she opened up the one from her parents.

 _Laurel, how are you? Are you up to anything right now?_

 _xoxoxo, Mom 3_

Laurel sighed in relief. She had been afraid they would ask if they could visit.

 _I'm doing fine, just, you know, boring old life and all, nothing really happening over here, ;))_

 _How about you?_

 _love, Laurel xoxo_

"How's it coming?" she asked, closing her laptop and peering over at the busily working children. Fingon's tongue was sticking out in concentration, and Celegorm's hand appeared to be having a little writing seizure as it labored across the page he was studiously filling.

"Almost done." Maedhros informed her, signing his name, 'Maitimo', with a flourish.

"Very good. Let's see them."

One by one the children handed them all in and she took them, putting them in her 'to be graded' neon blue plastic folder before glancing up at the clock, sighing.

"It looks like we have some time to kill, guys. Who's ready to go fold some clothes?"

"I am!" Fingon cried excitedly, grabbing Maedhros' hand and dragging him after a chuckling Laurel. Everyone else followed except for Celegorm, who stood, unmoved, arms crossed contrarily.

"What if I have no wish to fold laundry?"

Laurel turned, smiling sweetly as she replied:

"Then you get to scrub the toilet."

Celegorm's eyes widened at this, and he hurried after them, arms quickly uncrossing as he did so.

A few minutes later they were all in Laurel's room, folding laundry on her bed.

"This is mine! And so is this!" Fingon cried excitedly, showing an appreciative Laurel a blue sweater and a pair of dark grey sweat pants. "And this underwear is Nelyo's! And these pants are Kano's!" he exclaimed, handing Maedhros a pair of dull orange underwear, and Maglor a pair of tight black pants.

"Can we fold in silence, or is that not an option?" Celegorm asked sarcastically, glaring at his half-cousin as he threw a pair of loose, light blue jeans right into the face of a surprised Glorfindel before continuing on, soon throwing Nellas' swamp-green ruffly skirt at her head, to which she promptly boxed his ears in return, much to his surprise and the others' amusement.

"Hey mom, what are these?" Maglor asked curiously, holding up Laurel's Taekwando robes with interest.

"Oh, that's just my-Oh crap, I forgot!" Laurel cried, suddenly remembering.

"What?" Glorfindel asked nervously as he comforted poor Nellas, who had been quite taken off guard by the surprising outburst.

"Taekwando is tonight...I must have forgotten with all this commotion...I'm so glad I remembered...tonight is the expert staff-fighting black-belt special."

The children all cast her quizzical looks, confused.

"Well, Taekwondo is a form of martial arts, it's about kicking and punching and defending yourself, but their is rolling and tumbling and weapons involved too. I've been doing it ever since I was twelve, and am a black belt-that is, a master, I guess."

"Oooooh..." Fingon murmured, though they all still looked confused.

"Let me show you." Laurel decided, pulling out her ancient laptop from under her bed and going onto YouTube, soon pulling up a rather blurry and slightly shaky video centered on two young women, in full Taekwando uniform, engaged in an impressive stunt fighting routine. "That one on the left, with the short blonde hair in a little ponytail, that's me, and that one on the right, with the long black hair in the braid, that's Marcia. We're both black-belts, and Sensei set this routine up for us so that we could have some fun. Don't worry, we aren't actually hurting each other." Laurel assured as Maglor winced in sympathy for the two figures, both twisting, tumbling, kicking, and punching each other at top speed.

"Does that not hurt just a little bit?" Nellas asked in interest, eyes widening as both girls drew their wooden stunt katana blades.

"Well, a little, when you keep on tumbling, you know? I always have bruises on my legs and stuff, but I already would anyway, I bang into so many things all the time." Laurel laughed, drawing up her pant leg's to show the children the superficial bruises speckling the fronts of her calves. "Anyway, I have to go tonight after work, so it looks like I won't be home for dinner, I'll just eat something there, at _Mario's_ , before I leave for the Dojo. I might get back before you're asleep, though."

"Good, then we shall wait up for goodnight kisses." Nellas decided quietly, a little embarrassed as she avoided Laurel's gaze.

"You all can wait up for goodnight kisses, but I will certainly not." Celegorm announced, glaring at Laurel rebelliously as he threw her her pair of tie-died leggings, which she somehow managed to catch despite the Taekwando outfit in her arms.

"Suit yourself, my dear. Now, shall we start with lunch for Maura? I have some nice pizza pockets in the freezer that are just begging to be heated up."

"Hooray for pizza pockets!" Fingon cried, leading the way for the other children into the kitchen/dining room, beaming all the way despite the fact that he hadn't the faintest idea as to what a pizza pocket was.

Laurel chuckled, folding the last of the clothes before following them. Once she reached the kitchen/dining room she preheated the oven, washing a cookie pan, covering it with frozen pizza pockets and leaving it on the counter to wait for the oven to be ready, trying to decide what to do next, before getting up to go get her list.

She hummed to herself, looking it over before slipping it in her back pocket and gathering the children around her.

"Ok, so, while lunch cooks we're going to learn about different occupations, or jobs, people commonly hold in this world. We're going to look at photographs and then draw pictures. Nelyo, would you go get my computer? Turko, would you please go get the colored pencils and paper?"

"No."

"Alright then. Laure, would you mind doing Turko's job-"

Fine, I will do it." Celegorm grumbled, getting up and getting the jar of colored pencils and stack of drawing paper from Laurel's second hand shelf grudgingly, shooting a glare at Glorfindel while doing so.

"Ok, first is firefighter." Laurel began, googling 'firefighter' and putting a nice image of a friendly looking firefighter smiling at the camera on her new and previously blank Pages document, typing underneath it, 'Firefighter'. "A firefighter is a person who puts out fires in houses and restaurants and wherever there may be one, before it gets out of control. They are very brave and wear this big suit to protect them from the fire, and they use big hoses to spray water on the burning building. They ride in these big red trucks, called 'fire engines'" here Laurel pulled up a picture of a fire truck, "and they blast really loud sirens whenever they're rushing to an emergency to tell the other cars to get out of the way. My dad was a firefighter, but he's retired now."

The children nodded in understanding, so she let them draw pictures of a firefighter and firetruck while she changed into her waitress uniform before moving on to policeman, then doctor and nurse, and so on, covering all the common jobs she could think of that children first learn in school before Maura arrived, letting herself in and hanging her magenta coat on the wall before entering the kitchen.

"Hey guys, lunch smells good. Learning about occupations I see?"

"Yes. Oh, Maura, change of plans. I forgot about Taekwando tonight, I won't be back until at least an hour and a half after dinner. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, I was planning on staying awhile anyway. Alright, kiddos, it sounds like lunch is ready." Maura said as the oven beeped, pulling on Laurel's cat-speckled oven mitts and removing the pizza pockets from the oven, now dripping with leaking cheese.

"Maura, Maura, look what we made today!" Fingon cried, body-slamming her with one of his classic hugs once she had(thankfully)put down the very hot baking sheet, proudly showing her his necklace.

"How nice! Did you all make them?"

"Yes, look at mine." Celegorm replied rather shyly, offering up his for inspection.

"Beautiful, Turko, very good job! I like your use of color! Will you get out some glasses and fill them with milk for everyone, please?" she asked him gently, and he nodded without a second thought, quickly obeying.

"You certainly do have a way with Turko, I do believe I'm jealous." Laurel whispered as she stuffed a few pizza pockets in her mouth and hands, before bidding them all goodbye and giving the nearest elfling, who happened to be Nellas, a quick kiss on the forehead before hurrying out, clothes for Taekwando under one arm, putting on Maura's coat by accident as she flew out the door, leaving the young elf-maid blushing furiously at the unexpected attention in her wake.

 **Haha, someone totally needs to make some fanart for the art selfie...*chuckles*...**

 **I know, I haven't updated for awhile...forgive me?**

 **Review replies:**

 **Peregrin Took the Falcon- Hey, no problem!(you were the first reviewer for that chappie, actually XD) Yeah, poor Laurel, she really doesn't know what she's getting herself into...(her mom didn't have to homeschool that many kids, but you'll find more out about that later...*intrigue* XDXD)Yeah, that would be super awkward. : / So glad Nelyo saved the day there...XD Thanks so much for your devoted and awesome reviews! :D**

 **NirCele- Yup, second. ;D You're totally gonna kill your CapLock, though, XDXD(the caps are great though, I don't mind a bit) Heehee lot's more Celegorm in this chappie, hope you enjoyed! Yeah, I got whacked in the face with a frisbee too...it hurt...my face didn't stop hurting for, like, a long time. 2+ weeks. I was surprised, actually, how long it took. : / Anyway, THANKS SO MUCH YOUR REVIEWS ARE AWESOME!**

 **Quantumphysica- hah yeah, he totally is XD Thanks so much for your reviews!**

 **Elf from Downunder- *laughs* 'devious brat' is the perfect way to describe him! :D Yeah, Laurel really has her hands full... *feels slightly guilty for a moment at what I'm doing to my poor Laurel* *only for a moment* Thanks so much!**

 **Anyway, thanks all who read and reviewed(and hopefully, enjoyed), and I hope to hear from you all again soon! :D:D:D**

 **Have a fabulous day,**

 **~Thurin**


	7. 7--Elflings And Maura

**Hello! I'm back!**

 **Just so you guys know, I personally have no especially bad feelings towards heavy metal and think that if that's what you like, then by all means play it with wild abandon. The opinions expressed in this chapter are Maglor's, not mine. :)**

"Where are you taking us, Maura?" Celegorm asked, shooting the closest elfling in sight, who happened to be Maglor, a smug smile as he snuggled up against the soft heather grey fabric of her pullover.

"I'm taking you hiking." she replied, smiling at the scowling Maglor as she gently picked Celegorm up off her lap and sat him down in the passenger seat next to her, buckling him up.

If Laurel had known Maura was putting Celegorm in the passenger seat she would have had a near-heart-attack, but in Maura's defense, she did turn off the passenger airbag.

"What is hiking?" Celegorm asked, yelping in surprise as the car started with a sudden rumble and jerk, pulling out of the driveway.

"It is going for a long walk in the woods or mountains to enjoy nature. It's lots of fun."

"Are there animals in forests?" Celegorm asked anxiously, ignoring Nellas' squeak of delight at the idea of seeing trees again, fiddling with the dials and knobs arraying the dashboard.

"Yes-"

"WHOA!" he exclaimed, jumping as the radio blinked suddenly on and unbelievably loud music shook the car, eye's going so wide Maura thought for a moment she had slipped into an Anime.

"What is that?!" Maedhros cried, restraining a crazed Nellas with some difficulty as she tried to jump out the window in order to escape the unnecessarily loud heavy metal which nearly exploded her eardrums.

Maura quickly turned it off, glaring at a very naughty-looking Celegorm as she stopped at a red light.

"You have to be more careful, Turko, you almost got us in an accident!"

"An accident?" he asked nervously, smiling embarrassedly up at her.

"Yes, a car accident. If I'm not careful, my care could slam into someone else's. It would hurt. People sometimes die."

"Ooooh..." Celegorm murmured in understanding, eyes widening again as he looked out at the cars rushing by him in a new light.

"But what was that?" Maedhros inquired again insistently, rolling up Nellas' window to be safe(it seemed that, for the moment, she was still seriously considering leaping out of it).

It was Maura's turn to look sheepish as she replied, "My boyfriend and I really enjoy that kind of music, and we play it really loud, the way we like it. Laurel says she can't even drive anywhere with us anymore, she says it gets too obnoxious. Cars have radios in them, that play music people record and broadcast out in invisible radio-waves that the radio in the car catches and plays when you turn to that station. They're invisible, Laure." she added as she noticed Glorfindel scanning the sky out the window excitedly, trying to catch a glimpse of a radio-wave.

"Oh." he murmured sheepishly, only to be interrupted by a furious Maglor.

"Music? Music?! You call that...that awful...that racket...that evil, painful noise music?" he fairly shrieked, face quite red.

"Calm down, Kano, you will damage your voice, and then you would be sorry." Maedhros warned calmly, placing a gently restraining hand on his murderous little brother's shoulder.

"Kano, music here is a little different from what I'm sure you're used to-"

"I should say so!"

"Well, we still have music that is sort of like what you have at home, but the definition of music has grown much broader, giving everyone a chance to express themselves musically in the way they feel most at home."

"Well, I suppose that is good. But they still ought not to let such horrific sounds be played like that! Think of the damage it will cause to people's ears!"

"That is quite enough, Kano." Maedhros interjected, thinking it was probably a good time to change the subject, "Maura, you referred to a 'boyfriend', what is that?" he asked, clamping a precautionary hand over Maglor's mouth.

"Well, it means I like him and we go out and stuff."

Blank stares.

Maura sighed as she turned off onto a side-road, making a long-suffering face at them in the rear-view mirror.

"I guess I'll have to figure out a way to say this that you guys will understand. Wooing? Courting? Do those words ring any bells?

"Oh, you mean he is your One. Why did you not just say 'lover'?" Fingon asked curiously, making Maura blush.

"We do not say 'lover' anymore."

"Then why not just call hime your One? Why would you two be courting if he wasn't?"

"Our society is much more casual about that. Besides, I don't even know if he is the one for me. We can't tell like elves can, but he might be, only time can tell. But I do like him."

"You must _really_ like him if you can tolerate such awful taste in music, I know I never would." Maglor mumbled irritably through Maedhros' hand before he was smothered again by his elder brother, earning him an embarrassed scowl from Maura as she skidded to a halt on the side of the road against the forest, right where the trail began.

"I kinda like that music too, you know. That's how we first met, at a concert for one of the bands that sings those kinds of songs." she explained in a tone that sounded almost defensive as she unlocked the car before opening her door with one hand and unbuckling Celegorm with the other.

"I suppose I can still like you, Maura, despite your questionable taste in music." Maglor muttered with what appeared to be great effort as he hopped out of the car, letting Maedhros get out by himself before elegantly helping Nellas down in a chivalrous gesture.

"I actually majored in music, you know." Maura sighed to nobody in particular, closing the door after Glorfindel leapt out before locking the car and tucking the keys in the pocket of the orange vest she had just yanked on before heading off the road and onto the trail.

"What does that mean? 'Majored in music'? Momma has not taught us about that yet." Celegorm asked thoughtfully in a rare bout of genuine curiosity, balancing on a rotting log and hopping along, slightly muddy crocs squeaking softly as they went.

"Well, when you go to college, you usually pick a major and a minor. You could major in, say, cooking, or sculpting, or writing, or engineering. Your major is what you spend the most time on, and most people take a job using the knowledge from their major after college. A minor is about half as many classes as a major, but the same sort of concept. I majored in music, I've played the piano since I was three. I also took up the oboe, guitar, and harp later in life. I always wanted to be a music teacher, you know? I like all types of music, some more than others. Laurel minored in music, that's how I met her. She did it for vocal stuff, though, I met her in a class on singing. I was at that concert more to experience different types of music than because I was a big fan. I've kinda become a fan now because my boyfriend, Brad, is really into it. I'm more into lighter rock, pop, or just simple piano/voice stuff. I'm also into classical music. I minored in Latin-American studies. I took it to learn more about my culture, I'm half-Latino from my mom, she grew up Bolivia before her family immigrated here."

"What did Laurel major in?" Glorfindel asked, not caring that he hadn't understood half of what Maura had just said(she wasn't exceptionally good at explaining modern concepts to elves from Aman and Arda who knew barely anything about this world).

"Drawing. She wants to be an animator, but she's been having a hard time finding a good job around. I guess that's why both of us are still working at a restaurant, waiting tables. Neither of us really want to move on and leave the other behind. I guess I could find a job as a music teacher, if I really tried, but I'm just not part of that circle, it would take some serious trying. And Laurel, too, I bet if she tried to get in with an animation studio, she could. But we're kind of in a little rut right now."

"And you will be in this rut forever if you keep on waiting on each other to make the first move. Maura, when mom gets home tonight, you should tell her to send some of her art in or whatever you need to do to get into an animation studio tomorrow morning. And you should start looking around for a music teaching position." Nellas advised, catching Celegorm by the back of his shirt before he tumbled off the log he had still been balanced on, managing to look up at Maura earnestly at the same time.

"I guess you're right, Nellas, I really should-"

"Let me ask her!" Glorfindel cried excitedly, bouncing up and down in the middle of the trail, "It will give me an excuse to come and see her tonight after I am supposed to be asleep, and maybe she will show me some of her drawings."

"Maura," Maglor asked quietly, before anyone had time to react to Glorfindel's proposal, "you never told me before you were so accomplished in music. Why is it that you never played for us? I myself have a great love for music, and would have been glad to hear you play."

"I...I don't know. Back at home, Kano, weren't you rather...known for your musical talent?" she probed, steering the children to the side as a jogger ran by, oblivious to them with earbuds in his ears.

"Well, a little, but atto said that when I grew up I would be famous. I do not know if he was right or not, but I like music awfully."

"Then maybe it was because I was rather embarrassed, because I thought you'd be much better than me."

"That's nonsense! You have reached your majority and I am yet but a child, why would I be better than you?" Maglor inquired curiously, raising his eyebrows at her dubiously.

"I must have been confusing you with somebody else then." Maura said, feeling uncomfortable as she edged further and further towards territory Laurel and she had decided not to cross. Yes, the children got that a book had been written about their world and that Laurel and Maura were aware of it, but for now they were not aware that their entire lives were chronicled in it. They did not realize that they were a story. And Laurel hoped to keep it that way, as she had explained to Maura over dinner a couple nights ago, after the children were asleep.

"Maura, would you mind if I went ahead? Or climbed a tree?" Nellas asked hopefully, sidling up beside her and grasping the edge of her vest with long, thin fingers.

Maura was about to say 'no' when she saw the sparkling lights in Nellas eyes. She had never noticed how dull they had been before, until now, when they were in the midst of the forest.

"Yes, but do be careful and stay within hearing distance, and don't let any of the other hikers see you."

"Thank you!" her voice became so quiet with joy it was almost inaudible, and she quickly scampered off, taking a flying leap up into a nearby tree and quickly disappearing from sight.

"Turko, what on earth are you doing?" Maura asked with slight concern as the little boy slipped down off the log and crouched down on his haunches, putting himself nose to nose with a little ground squirrel, who was surprisingly not running away, "Turko, what if he has rabies!" Maura cried in alarm as he began chittering to the little squirrel, who began enthusiastically chittering back.

"He knows what he is doing, worry not." Maedhros sighed, shaking his head as the little squirrel proudly offered Celegorm a nut.

Forget slipping into an Anime, Maura was feeling like she had fallen into a little kid's cartoon.

"You can talk to animals?" she asked in disbelief, eyebrows raised as the excitedly chittering squirrel brought over several excited squirrel friends.

"Well, not all animals, but I am working on it. I currently know squirrel, mouse, horse, dog, and cat. I am working on robin, and fox. My goal in life," he whispered to the squirrels, this time in english, though they seemed not to care, "is to learn all the languages and ways of all the animals who roam the earth, and to meet and befriend every kind."

"That's a pretty ambitious goal, but the more power to you." Maura muttered, shaking her head in disbelief before leading the children forward again on the trail, squirrels dutifully in tow, "You know who you remind me of," she added as an afterthought, looking at a skipping Celegorm thoughtfully, "Crane. He's Laurel's older brother. He has blonde hair, it used to be white like yours and hers, but it darkened when he got older, it's rather a dirty-blonde now. He wears it long, usually in a ponytail like you have it now, Turko. He's a veterinarian, that's an animal doctor, and loves animals with a fierce passion. He has a dog too, Muriel, she's a big grey and white husky, you'd love her."

"A dog?" Celegorm echoed in growing excitement, "Could I ever meet her? I had a little puppy back home, who my best friend gave to me."

"Turko! Do not go around calling a Vala your best friend! It is vain and unfitting!" Maedhros cried, scolding his indignant little brother.

"But 'tis true! He is my best friend! He always has time for me, even when you all do not, and he does not scold me like you do, and he understands! He always does!"

"That is because you do not sass him!"

"Because he loves me and spends time with me!"

"Maybe I would spend more time with you if you were not out in the woods talking to animals all the time!"

"Boys! Do calm down, none of the other hikers want to hear your arguing." Maura sighed, putting a hand on both of their shoulders.

Maedhros looked close to tears, and so did Celegorm, Maura noticed. Apparently this was a long-going argument that touched both of them closely.

"It is alright, Nelyo, _I_ will always love you." Fingon reassured quietly, hugging Maedhros fondly around the waist, glaring at a very ruffled looking Celegorm from under his older cousin's arm.

"Maura, would Crane ever come and visit us and bring Muriel?" Celegorm asked timidly, putting her between him and Fingon and taking her hand tentatively.

"I don't know, Turko, we don't exactly want anyone to know about you guys just yet. Maybe some other time."

"Oh. Does Laurel have any other siblings?"

Maura's face grew oddly somber for a moment, before she hurriedly smiled and answered too quickly, "No. Just her and Crane."

"What about you?"

"It's just me and my dad. My mom passed away a couple years ago, she got really sick with a disease you guys wouldn't know about."

"I am sorry about your mother, my grandma died too, amme told me it was of something I would not understand either. I wonder if they had the same thing."

They hadn't, of course. Maura's mother had died of breast cancer, while Miriel had faded, but Celegorm wouldn't be able to understand that, so Maura just nodded.

"Maybe,"

"Then why does your family have such a big car if you are an only child? It is a car for a big family."

"I may be an only child, but I have cousins enough to make up for it and more. They all live within driving distance, I don't see them much anymore since everyone is going off to college and getting married and everything, but when we were all in school my parents drove all of us around, we never had to ride the bus, we had our own. They might as well have all been my siblings, and there were so many of them, my parents both came from big families."

"I know what you mean, I myself have far too many cousins. You have only met two of them, Laure and Finde." Celegorm remarked rather snootily, shooting pointed glances at Fingon, who glared right back at him, although it was rather ruined as Maedhros' russet hair got in the way(Fingon was still attached to him), and at Glorfindel, who was ahead of him and too busy singing what he could remember from 'When You're Gone', voice dropping to a murmur for all the words he couldn't recount(he had only heard it when Laurel had sung it in the shower earlier)to notice, irritating Maglor immensely because he was singing it in a different key.

"Look, I know you guys don't always get along great, but at least try to, please? For me?" Maura sighed, squeezing Celegorm's little warm hand and gazing down at him fondly.

All of his grumpiness melted away at that and he smiled bashfully back, squeezing her hand in return before continuing to walk in silence.

Maura called to Nellas a few times just to make sure she was alright, and aside from Fingon slipping on some leaf-mould and getting mud and dead leaves all over the side of his pants, and a passing hiker greeting them and mistaking the little boys for little girls(an event which led to a mixture of pleasure, confusion, rage, and embarrassment among them), all was well and it was a good, uneventful hike.

Maura would have continued it all the way through the afternoon until dinner, except that it began to look like rain, and when she checked her phone her fears were backed up by a 87% chance on the weather report.

So, they turned around rather sooner than she would have liked, and when they reached the car at somewhere between 3:30 to 4:00, there were light raindrops sprinkling down upon them.

"Nellas! Come, it is time to go home!" Maura called, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound of her voice.

A small rustle in the treetops heralded her arrival as the little elf-maid descended elegantly from the treetops, landing on her feet, reminding Maura more of a cat than a human.

By the time they were home the drizzle had turned to a downpour, and Maura cooked cheese quesadillas in a pan over the stove while the children washed up and got on their pajamas.

When they emerged, hair hanging loosely, wet and limp over their shoulders, Maura cut the circular quesadillas into triangles as if she were cutting a pizza, before handing them all plates graced will a spoonful of guacamole to dish up.

"Look, you dip it in the guacamole and then eat it." she showed them, and they followed her example, making a lovely dinner out of it.

After dinner she boiled water and made them all tea as they gathered around on the couch and watched 'The Black Stallion' on Laurel's laptop, and by now(to Maura's relief)they didn't have to pause the movie every five minutes to answer a question, as the children were now somewhat used to the concept of television.

After it was over it was dark outside, and she tucked them all in, Celegorm on the couch, Nellas on the living room floor, Maedhros, Maglor and Fingon in the guest room, leaving them to decide who slept on the ground and who got the bed, and Glorfindel, determined to stay up and wait for her, on the floor in Laurel's room.

"Laure," she sighed as he pulled the quilt up to his chin, hair ornamenting the pillow with golden waves, "don't stay up too long, she might not be back for another hour or so."

"I will stay up."

She shook her head fondly at his stubbornness, before delivering the bedtime kiss and closing the door behind her as she left, leaving the lamp on as Glorfindel had requested, so that he would be less tempted to fall asleep.

Maura closed the living room door and entered the kitchen/dining room to let the children sleep in peace, and began to put the dishes away and clean up, waiting for Laurel.

She came home forty-five minutes later, surprising Maura as she burst in through the door and slammed it shut behind her in a hurry, a packet of papers clutched feverishly in a pale hand, soaked to the skin from the howling storm outside.

 **Well now you know a lot more about Maura, Laurel, and family. :) I know this chapter was a little boring, but kinda essential if we want the action and climax and everything.**

 **Yes, Tolkien did say that Celegorm, by the time of the forging of the Silmarils and everything, knew all the languages of the animals.**

 **And the Vala I was referring to is Orome, who gave Huan to Celegorm, and was basically his bff(as little Turko sees it) XD**

 **Cliffhanger...evil, evil cliffhanger...muahahahaha...**

 **Review replies:**

 **Peregrin Took the Falcon: Oh yes, Fingon is the cutest little cutie ever...*drools*...we wants one, precious... Thanks so much for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much! :D:D:D**

 **Quantumphysica: :D I think you're 100% right! (I would so love to be hugged by Fingon) Yeah, watch out, camera flash + Glorfindel's smile = apply sunglasses to avoid eyeball sunburn, XD Don't worry, the problems are coming, thick and fast. Thanks a ton!**

 **KiyaJinnSkywalkerKenobi: Thank you so much! Yeah, she kinda is, XD I'm glad you like her! You have met and exceeded them, my friend, met and exceeded them. :D**

 **Elf from Downunder: lol yes Celeborn is such a little rebel...I feel really bad for Laurel once he becomes a teenager, XD I'm glad you liked the beads! I had fun coming up with what type of necklace each character would make. Yeah, Maura is Celegorm's weakness... Thanks so much!**

 **Thanks so all my fabulous reviewers, this story could not be without you. :D**

 **Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to have another one up soon!**

 **Thanks and have a fabulous day,**

 **~Thurin**


	8. 8--Elflings On The Mind

**Hello again!(sorry for the general lack of Elfings in this chapter)**

 **DISCLAIMER: *yawns* I still don't own anything you recognize. :)**

Laurel brushed her hair out of her face as it was whipped across her vision in the icy wind, before hugging herself around the waist tightly with both arms as she hurried down the street, head down and eyes squinting from the cold air. She didn't know the exact temperature, but guessed it was somewhere in the 30s, with an awful wind-chill. She shivered, pulling the hat her grandmother had made her in third grade after she had had pneumonia that had started with a cold from the cold winter air. It had been pleasant earlier that day, just a coat was all that was needed, but now, in the evening, the temperature had dropped. Laurel would have jumped for joy at the changing seasons, winter being her favorite of them all-except that she was very prone to colds, and was not looking forward to the chill air(although she had had several colds that summer as well, and in the spring and fall, but that is beside the point). So she kept her head down, hugged her gloved hands around her waist, and hurried on towards _Mario's_.

She was eager to see that man, the one who worked in the back and who had given her the gift-card in the first place, and have a word with him. Surely he had more to do with all this than he let on.

"What are you planning on for Thanksgiving, Laurie?" Johnny asked, leaning on the corner of his little podium as he waited to seat people, cocking his head and smiling toothily at her.

"Will you ever stop calling me that-wait. Thanksgiving? What?" she stuttered, mind racing.

"Um, yeah, Thanksgiving. Next week. Remember?" he sighed, shaking his head at her before quickly straightening up and assuming a professional air as a young couple entered, smiling and asking them if they wanted a table for two.

"Thanksgiving, darn-it." she muttered, hurrying into the back while putting her hair up in a small pony-tail, soft black ankle-boots making barely audible clicking sounds on the red, green, and white tile of the kitchen.

"Laurel! Gosh, you ok? Working only little bit now, and call in sick before?" Mario himself cried in his heavy Italian accent, enveloping her in a hug that smelled like basil and oregano.

"Yes, I'm fine, papa." she replied, pulling away and smiling. All the staff and costumers that had been around awhile called him 'papa', the very aura about him simply demanded it, and he had requested it of his waiters, saying it added to the ambience of the restaurant.

" _Molto bene, molto bene!_ We won't be seeing much of Laurel now though?" he inquired, putting an arm around her shoulder as she walked over to the sink to wash her hands before going out to wait tables.

"No, papa, not that much. Family stuff. I'm kinda busy now. Um," she added, laughing nervously, "that guy who usually works back here-the older one, is he around?"

"Oh, you mean Michael? He isn't here right now, too bad. What you want to speak with him about?"

"Oh, nothing. Never-mind." Laurel sighed, feeling disappointed as she rolled up the tight black sleeves of her waitress outfit to wash her hands. "Which tables do you want me to wait?"

::::::

Laurel climbed down the steps and off the bus, nodding to the tired-looking driver in thanks before putting her bag with her martial arts uniform in it down on the pavement and stretching her arms up over her head in a stretch under the cold light of a streetlamp before slinging the bag over her shoulder and beginning to walk home.

The bus-stop was only two blocks away from her house, and, being pretty confident about her self-defense skills, she had confidently made this walk alone and at night many times before, and had never had any problems.

So she stopped under a store awning and turned on some music, putting one earbud in her ear before continuing on, a song she had liked when she was fifteen quietly serenading her as she went on her way. The rain that had been pounding her as she ran to the dojo for Taekwando after she had finished her shift and had dinner had let up for the time being-which was lucky, as she was wearing Maura's very not-waterproof coat that night.

Everything seemed fine for the first block: there were some people around, even at night the city was not desolate. But as she crossed the street onto the next block, the world around her became oddly quiet, devoid of life. Aside from a bum sound asleep on a park-bench across the street, there was nothing.

 _Weird_. she thought, looking around her nervously, skin prickling, _It's almost like this block's enchanted or something._

Suddenly she froze, heat prickling over her thighs and across her face and neck. She could have sworn she had heard a sound, like a shoe scuffing on the pavement.

Slowly, nonchalantly, she let the earbud fall from her ear, tucking it into a coat pocket.

Then she heard it again.

Rapidly going through all the attack and defense plans and formations she had ever learned in her head as she continued on down the street, she nearly screamed in surprise as she just about walked into an old man, suddenly there where a shadow had been just a minute ago.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir-" she stuttered, glad she had on long pants so he couldn't see her legs shaking, before she stopped, trailing off as she realized who it was.

It was him. Michael. The man in the back. The giver of the fateful gift-card.

"Laurel, it's nice to see you. Pleasant surprise." he smiled, although the twinkle in his eye suggested that, for him at least, is was not a surprise at all.

"Ye-yes, forgive me, you rather surprised me there." she apologized, words coming out strangely from the adrenaline of the scare.

"No no, forgive me, I frightened you. But I'm very glad I was able to see you, Laurel, as I have something I need to give you."

"Actually, I need to talk to you too, sir. You see, that gift-card you gave me-"

She was interrupted by a sudden boom of thunder and flash of lightening in the sky above her, making her jump with the scream of fright she had managed to suppress before, although it was thankfully lost in the loud thunder.

"We must be quick-the rain is coming back, and you have someone waiting up for you at home, my dear."

"What-"

"Here, take these, I forgot to put them in the package." he instructed, handing her a small packet of papers and winking.

"But-"

"Hurry home! Hurry home! You'll catch your death in this rain!"

"But there isn't any rain-" she began, but stopped as a fat drop of water plopped down on the sidewalk before her, followed quickly by more and more, until suddenly she was in the middle of a freezing downpour.

When she looked up from the drop splattered on the sidewalk, he was gone, and she was standing there, alone in the middle of a thunderstorm, with one, animal instinct flashing through her mind.

 ** _Run home._**

And so she did, sprinting down the sidewalk, across a crosswalk, and down past a row of houses and up to her own, fumbling with the keys before she burst through the door, breathing heavily, shaking, and dripping with rain.

"Laurel!" Maura cried, jumping up off the counter she had been slouched on, looking her friend over with wide eyes. "What happened to you?"

"I...I ran into...him..." she spluttered, sinking down into a chair, dripping hair plastered over her face.

"Who?" Maura prodded, peeling her sorry coat off Laurel before starting on her hat and gloves.

"Michael. The guy who gave me the gift-card for the Middle Earth Plushies. I ran into him on my way home. He gave me an awful scare. Then he gave me these and just left." she sighed, handing Maura the sodden papers.

"Well, if it's any consolation, these are gonna save us a whole lot of future trouble. Look, they're papers for the children! Birth certificates, papers making you their legal guardian, and everything! Just look!"

Laurel took them from Maura, giving them a quick scan before sighing in relief.

"Thank goodness. They even have modern names! Nellas is Nellie, Nelyo is Nuri, Laure is Laurie-isn't that a girl's name?"

"It's like Laurie from _Little Women_."

"Oh, ok. Finde is Finn, Kano is Keith, and Turko is Trey. Now everything will be so much easier." she sighed, handing the papers back to Maura and raising her eyebrows at the secret smile that was forming on her friend's face. "What?" she demanded, pulling off her soaking shoes and peeling off the socks as she spoke.

"I had forgot-Laure still might be awake, he was trying to wait up for you, cute little guy."

"Oh, ok, then I'll go to bed now. Goodnight, Maura, sorry I ruined your coat."

"No worries-it'll be dry in the morning. Since your home, I'll drive back to my place now-you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Have a good night!" she called as Maura left, waving as she began to softly close the door behind her.

"Same to you!" her friend returned, before hurrying out to her car through the pouring rain.

"Now for Laure," Laurel muttered to herself, opening the door to the living room and tip-toeing past the sleeping elflings and towards her bedroom.

Glorfindel jumped guiltily as she opened the door, and looked up at her, apologetic and surprised, from where he sat on the floor, a photo album on his lap.

"I am so very, very, very sorry!" he squeaked before a surprised Laurel could even begin to speak. "I had resolved to wait nicely and quietly in my bed for you, but you took ever so long, and I saw the corner of a book peeking out from under your bed, and I get awfully curious-"

"It's alright, Laure." Laurel reassured, interrupting his little rant, fearing that it might last for quite a long time from the way he wouldn't stop to catch his breath. "Here, would you like me to tell you about them?"

"Alright, if you wouldn't mind. But, wait, momma, you are soaking wet! You ought to get dry first."

"Oh, yes, that's probably a good idea." Laurel sighed, remembering her sodden appearance, and, picking up a pair of pajamas, went out into the bathroom to change.

When she reemerged, her wet hair was up in a towel on the top of her head, and the rest of her was in dry pajamas.

She slipped into the pair of magenta bedroom slippers by the door before kneeling down beside Glorfindel on the floor, and looking at the picture he was currently on.

The lighting in the photo was bad, it looked as if it was taken in a parking lot at night, and everyone was squinting from the flash. In it was a big, smiley older latino woman in a purple sweater with her arms wrapped around a slightly younger looking Maura in a bright purple dress, and an even shorter-haired Laurel in an icy blue dress, all smiling happily.

"That's Maura's mom, me, and Maura in the parking lot before we went in to a concert. Her dad took it-he said we all looked so beautiful in our new dresses, he just had to." Laurel smiled fondly, running her finger along the peeling edge of the photo. "He always says silly things like that to making everyone pleased and laugh at the same time."

"Oh, I heard. About her." Glorfindel murmured, gesturing to Maura's mother.

"Yes, I supposed Maura told you. It was hard." Laurel sighed, before flipping back to a different page and laughing softly. It showed three very small children, two little girls and a slightly older boy, bundled up to their ears and all sitting in the midst of an absolutely grand pumpkin-patch.

"I guessed one of them was you, but I couldn't tell between these two." Glorfindel explained, gesturing to the two little girls with white wisps of hair peeking out from under their hats, pale plump little faces just about identical.

"That one's me, on the right." Laurel showed him before flipping to another one, of a brown-haired man and a blonde woman embracing each other lovingly. "Those are my parents."

Glorfindel's eyes widened, and he ran a cautious finger over their image.

"Then...would that mean they're my...grandparents?" he ventured, glancing up at her cautiously.

"Yes, I suppose." Laurel agreed, flipping to another page. That picture was of five figures and a dog all sitting together on one sloping couch, smiling with their arms around each other.

There were her parents from the other picture in the middle, and the two girls from the pumpkin patch on one side, hand in hand, still identical although one wore her hair long while the other her hair short. Then on the other side of their parents sat the older boy, now long and limber, head leaning on the neck of the great grey husky dog in his lap-Muriel.

"That was when we were in high-school." Laurel muttered, before flipping to another page.

The next picture was of a very sassy-looking teenage Laurel with much-too-bright lipstick on sticking her tongue out at the camera.

"That has been since it was taken, and I think always will be my mother's favorite picture of me. Crane took it as a joke one time, when I was really cranky and saucy, and showed it to her, and it gave her such a hoot. She keeps a little laminated version in her wallet, and I have this one here. It is rather absurd, don't you think?"

"Yes," Glorfindel laughed, sticking his tongue out playfully back at the picture, "most absurd."

Laurel flipped the pages again, and this one was a graduation photo, centering on Laurel and Maura, hugging each other in full graduation outfits, Maura's father and cousins and Laurel's parents and brother, Crane(and the husky, Muriel, of course)surrounding them along with several miscellaneous friends.

But Glorfindel did not smile when he beheld their smiling faces. Instead he frowned at it, cocking his head and scrunching up his nose in thought.

"There is...something missing..." he murmured, cocking his head even further as if that would give him a new perspective on the problem.

Laurel made as if to close the book, but Glorfindel held it open, frowning at it in confusion.

"The girl that looked just like you...where did she go? She is supposed to be there." he finally realized, looking up at Laurel's rapidly darkening face in confusion.

"She...had to leave, Laure."

"Will she ever come back, momma? You looked awfully happy when she was with you."

"I was, dear Laure, I was. But she isn't coming back."

"Why, did you say something nasty in a fit of temper or something?"

"No," Laurel sighed, shaking her head, "I wish it were that simple. I wish it was just something like that, that I could make right and bring her back."

Suddenly a light of understanding sparkled in Glorfindel's eyes, and he looked up at her slowly.

"Did she...did she leave like Maura's momma? And Miriel?"

"M-hm." Laurel murmured, glassy eyes gazing unseeingly out of the window and into the silent, beautiful night.

"Why have you not mentioned her ever before?"

"Because I couldn't bear to."

Glorfindel was silent for awhile, focusing intently on an old stain on the rug before venturing, "What happened?"

A singled tear, like a crystal droplet, appeared on the edge of Laurel's eye.

But she couldn't answer, instead saying,

"After it happened I...I felt like Elrond...after loosing Elros...h-how..." she choked on the word, the tear spilling down her cheek, "...how could she leave me? I thought she loved me, how could she do something like that to me? How could she leave me?" she finally managed in a whisper, drawing the edge of her sleeve up across her cheek, wiping away the glistening tear-track.

"Momma," Glorfindel whispered, "who is Elrond? Elros?"

She looked down at him, wet eyes sparkling in the lamplight, a sad smile on her face.

And then came something Laurel had certainly not expected.

Glorfindel jumped up, walking up to her until he stood facing her, she sitting and he standing, almost eye to eye, except that he was a bit taller.

And then he leaned forward, bending down a little, and, eyes closed, his lips brushed her forehead.

Gently.

Tenderly.

She felt as if a fireworks show were going off inside of her at the brief touch.

"I love you, and I will not leave. I promise. Will you wait for me, Laurel?" he whispered, quirking a hopeful smile down at her surprised face.

"I...I...I love you too, Laure. I won't leave either. I'm your mother, and the others' mother too, and I'll take care of you until the end! Why, if Manwe demands my children back, I'll say no-"

"Ahem." Glorfindel harrumphed, clearing his throat pointedly at Laurel, interrupting her. "I said 'Laurel' that time, not 'momma'."

Laurel's eyes widened slightly, before she quirked a smile back.

"Then yes, I'll wait for you, Laurefindil."

Glorfindel smiled almost giddily before hugging her fiercely, childishly nuzzling his face into her hair, the surprising matureness he had presented just a moment ago gone completely.

 _It's odd to think about, but I must remember, he's probably older than me in years..._ Laurel thought, running her fingers through his long, loose blond hair, before frowning.

"I am awfully glad that is settled, now I will not have to worry." Glorfindel sighed, pulling back and smiling at her.

"Laure, I just realized Maura let her hair get out of that ponytail. May I braid it?"

"Sure, but why are you always so intent on keeping it up all the time? Despite Amme's fears, I never got it caught in the wheel we spun around to make pots with at home even once." he reassured her as she braided it back, while she shook her head.

"I just have this fear that something will happen. Humor me, will you?"

"Alright. Ooh, I almost forgot! I was supposed to tell you something," he began, assuming a sombre and firm facial expression that Laurel found hard not to laugh at, "you need to pull yourself and Maura too out of the ditch you are in. Submit art or whatever you need to do to get a real job tomorrow morning, first thing! Promise you will, momma?" he finished in a milder, rather unsure tone, looking at her hopefully.

She sighed, looking down at her hands clasped absently in her lap, then over at the tissue box in the corner of the room, then at the dancing lights from cars driving by outside in the rain.

"I...I promise."

Glorfindel brightened up considerably at this, surprising Laurel again as he flung his arms around her neck, clasping her in a loving embrace, laying his cheek on the side of her head.

"Oh good, I was beginning to fear you shouldn't." he sighed, beginning to make as if to pull away, but Laurel stopped him, hugging him close.

"Don't, Laure. Nobody's touched me like that for a long time. I didn't realize how much I'd been wanting it until now." she sobbed, tears coming thick and fast now.

"I think I shall give you a special, secret name, for only me to use. Can it be Elenis?" he asked softly, pulling back just enough to look her in the eye.

"M-mh," she hiccuped, "what does it mean?"

"Glimmering Starlight Woman. The stars dance across your face from outside, and it is most lovely."

Laurel laughed amid her tears, squeezing him tighter,

"Those are the car lights flashing in the rain, Laure."

"Nevertheless, they are beautiful."

"That they are. But now you have to go to bed, dearest, or else you'll be grumpier than Turko tomorrow morning." she sighed, gently leading him over to the blankets piled up on the carpet and tucking him in.

"Goodnight, Elenis." he whispered, reaching up and catching a strand of her damp hair that had escaped the towel in-between his fingers, adding, "That name is my special secret."

"Alright. Goodnight." she gave him a goodnight kiss before unwrapping the towel from about her head and turning off the lamp, curling up in her own bed with the stack of little essays from earlier and a little reading lamp and pen under the covers so that she could grade them without keeping Glorfindel up.

When she had finished, she wrote in her journal:

 _The Elf who my OC always ends up with just gave me an epesse. O_O_

Before chuckling to herself, rolling over, and falling asleep.

 **Do you guys think this story should at any time move up to T? It will never move up to M, but as it progresses, let me know if you think a T rating would be more suitable.**

 **Ok, sorry about all the angst/mild suspense? in this chappie. : / You'll learn more about Laurel's mysterious sister soon...*cackles evilly***

 **For those unaware, an epesse is a special nickname 'aftername' given, in the Elvish nomenclature, to a person later in their life, usually by their lover, and it tends to be the most flattering and beautiful of their names ('Galadriel' is actually her epesse, given to her by Celeborn, and is considerably more lovely than her other name, 'Nerwen', 'man-maiden', or even 'Artanis', 'noble maiden')**

 **Review replies-**

 **Peregrin Took the Falcon: Thank you! Ooh, who's the comic by(I don't believe I've seen that one)? Sorry, no Fingon in this chappie either, but he will be there from the beginning next time(I promise). :D So glad you enjoyed!**

 **KiyaJinnSkywalkerKenobi: Thanks so much! I'm so honored that you enjoy my story! :D:D:D I'm glad you found it not too boring... :P**

 **Elf from Downunder: Yes, Fingon is very devoted XD I'm glad you appreciated the backstory, I was worried people wouldn't : / Thanks so much for your awesome review!**

 **Guest: *evil laughter* you'll just have to wait and see... (thanks for your review!)**

 **Antoninsh: Thank you so much! I hope this chapter satisfies your expectations!**

 **Thanks to all my readers, reviewers, favoriters, and followers, hope all you guys liked it!**

 **(sorry for the angstyness)**

 **Have a great day, and please don't forget to review!**

 **~Thurin**


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